Delta Alpha Six: Operation Dead Zone
by Kirabaros
Summary: What is Operation Dead Zone? That is the question as a dead Marine corporal has Team Gibbs working with a former NCIS agent to find out. For Delta Alpha Six, it is redemption for a an incident that had him disavowed, but at what cost? Secrets are revealed as he strives to keep Team Gibbs from getting into trouble and may up costing more than what he bargained for. Part 1 of 3.
1. Chapter 1

**Operation Dead Zone**

 **Chapter 1**

The sirens were deafening and threatened to make his head explode. It pounded and pulsed that it felt like he could feel the individual hairs standing up on his head. He could barely hear the voices of the EMTs as they rattled off vitals. It was all noise and it was forcing him to squint since he couldn't open his eyes.

 _BP is 140/20._

He felt his eyes being pried open and was greeted by a blinding light. It took him a split second to realize that it was a penlight and that the EMT was looking at his eyes. Why the hell was he doing that?

 _Pupils are responsive. Still may be a concussion._

 _Got a bleeder._

It was natural to want to roll his eyes and he would have told them that it was fairly obvious. He had been shot and nearly blown to bits. That kind of thing produced blood. He wanted to growl at them but it was too much and he closed his eyes and let the darkness take over. It was noisy when he went under and it was noisy when he awoke.

The sounds were noisy but less harsh. He recognized them from having been in a place that produced them one to many times for most people's comfort. There were also a few other sounds that were different. The murmurs of familiar voices.

 _Are they okay?_

He knew that sweet voice. He had known that voice for years, the happiness in it infecting everything and making it better. He knew it as well as one other voice he got to know well over the years and both were filed away as a means of providing himself with reassurance and occasionally comfort. Now it sounded scared and worried. Inwardly he groaned, annoyed with himself for causing it and mentally making a note that he was going to have to make it up to her when this blew over.

 _Agent McGee is going to be fine. He did take a hit in the vest and will have a few bruised ribs and it was a graze on the arm…_

That was good. That was very good, but… not so good for him. He was starting to feel it now and he wasn't liking the position he was in. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked to let them focus, but the effort was tiring and the murmurs that were familiar were rather soothing. He did try to stay awake since he knew that they were talking about him.

… _injuries are severe and significant blood loss. We managed to save the kidney but it will be touch and go for the next few hours._

 _So you are saying that all we can do it wait?_

He perked up slightly and forced his tired brain to focus. That was her. His alqamar with the passion in her voice that never failed to make him rise to the challenge. It held her spirit that competed and would surpass a man but still held that femininity he loved about her. It was rich like honey and playful especially when she mixed up her idioms. Playing with fire and he knew this latest thing would get him a tongue lashing.

 _McGee? You alright?_

He heard the name and then another noise. It was then that he remembered. The bullets had been flying everywhere. Glass was shattering and he saw him. He saw him with the case. The look. It was one that told him that there was no surrender but a fight to the death. He knew that look well and saw the bleeping light. He had shouted out and grabbed McGee. There was a crash and a boom and something hit him in the back. His eyes closed and darkness started to creep in.

There had been a steady beeping. Now it was becoming erratic. It was like being in that damn ambulance again. It got quieter as his brain refocused on the last thing that happened. He felt the explosion and then…

 _Code blue in room 3!_

The monitors were blaring but he didn't hear them. He was back where it started. The pain in his back. The burnt smells of chemicals and other debris. The smoke was thick in the air, obscuring his vision. It brought back memories of another time and place that was still painful to remember. And one voice he heard before he blacked out completely.

 _They will pay, Boss._

* * *

 _Two Days Earlier_

The elevator dinged, signaling that it had arrived on the floor that had been selected. The door opened to reveal Tony and Ziva, returning from following up on a lead, arguing once again about her driving skills. Ziva was saying that her chosen route was more efficient as it had avoided traffic since what they found from their lead was time sensitive and needed to be gotten down to Abby. Tony was insisting that it was efficient if they wanted to make it onto the most wild police chases. It was the usual bickering that was playful in nature laced with real concern or annoyance.

"And we were damned lucky that all that guy did was flip you the bird…" Tony was saying as they entered the familiar ring of cubicles that was their workspace.

"Flip the bird?" Ziva frowned in confusion. It was a new one even though she was familiar with certain 'universal' insults.

Tim McGee had heard the 'discussion', but merely smiled as he continued to check up on something for the team leader, Gibbs. Their case was a dead Marine that had been an attaché to a major weapons development company. At first it appeared to be an accident but the medical examiner, Ducky, managed to discover that it was actually murder and done in a very slick fashion and would have been almost undetected. Tim's job involved him getting more into the company and the work their dead Marine was into, but he had been hit by a wall that was called "CLASSIFIED" and he had been trying to get around it. It was what he was in the middle of when Tony and Ziva returned.

Tony was shooting a look at Ziva and tried to explain it, "It means…"

"The finger."

The voice was new and attracted the attention of the two arrivals. Tony looked to see a man sitting at his desk and looking very at home in it. He could tell the stranger was dark haired with golden brown eyes and olive toned skin. He was dressed casual in jeans, shirt and a blazer complete with shoes meant for running and chasing after suspects in. Certainly worthy of being noticed but the fact that the guy was good looking irked Tony as he narrowed his eyes at the man and replied, "Right. And that's my desk."

The man looked up at Tony as if to ascertain the disposition of the man and, without a hint of apology, stood up and moved away from the desk. He sidestepped away, commenting, "Just keeping the seat warm and enjoying the view."

Tony eyed the man, trying to size him up. It didn't hurt that they were roughly the same height though the newcomer was slightly taller. It would be a fair fight, more or less. He noted that there was no visitor's badge so that indicated an agent or personnel from NCIS. The thing was that he had never seen him before and that made him suspicious as he watched the man move around him, coming between him and Ziva and heading towards the stairs that led to the director's office. He asked, "Got a date?"

"Just a meeting… with the director."

Tony watched as the man seemed to casually stroll up the stairs, disappearing from view. He turned to look at Ziva and noticed she had a peculiar expression on her face. He recognized it as the one she used when she was sizing up a suspect, but there was something different about it. He commented, "Wonder which department he's from?"

"Yes," Ziva replied almost absently as her gaze lingered on the stairs before she refocused and said, "I am going to take the evidence down to Abby."

Tony eyed her strangely and replied, "Alright. I'll take care of the BOLO."

Ziva nodded and headed towards the way that would lead her to Abby's lab. Her lip gave a slight twitch of amusement as she heard Tony scold Tim for allowing a stranger to sit and go through his desk. Tim's protests had her smile but she sobered as she got into the elevator and pressed the button. Since she was alone, she was able to breathe a huge breath. She leaned against the wall of elevator and looked upwards.

 _Why today of all days?_

That was the question. She looked around with a worried expression on her face. She probably shouldn't worry since he was relaxed when he walked away. Then again he could do that when the situation was tense if only to make others feel comfortable. Still, she couldn't help but worry. It only added to the feeling of unease that she felt when she woke up yesterday. It carried over when they got the call about their dead Marine. Something about it had her uneasy.

There was no use worrying about it. She couldn't make a show of it. Not if she wanted to get him in trouble with his job. If it could be called that. The elevator dinged to let her know that she was on the floor she had wanted. She straightened up and adjusted her hold on the evidence she had collected. At least time in Abby's lab would allow her time to be able to compose herself from the surprise she just had been subject to. She was sure she would have answers in due time. If not, she knew how to find and get them, often with a little physical interrogation. That gave her slight pleasure as she entered Abby's lab and the familiar sound of the forensic scientist's music.

* * *

The director's office was a familiar sight. Ray Salazaar, had been there countless times per the request of Director Jenny Shepard over the last few years. All to be assigned to jobs that essentially were and never to be acknowledged with a few more 'legit' ones like being on protection detail and even then he was a nonentity in the ranks. It was a testament to how good at his job he was even with his current situation.

He looked around the office and noted slight changes. A thing to be expected since there was a change of leadership since Director Shepard died from gunshot wounds. At least he was still an agent with NCIS, though that title was still shrouded in the sea of limbo. He could only guess that he was being summoned for a new assignment and one that would probably send him overseas and mentally began planning what he was going to do before taking off… again.

"I assume you know why you have been summoned here."

Ray turned his attention to the man sitting at the desk. For a brief moment his lip twitched as he recalled another time the same question had been asked, in a similar manner, and almost the exact same setting. He wanted to laugh but kept it in to himself as he replied as he shifted slightly, "A dozen possible reasons."

Director Leon Vance looked at the man standing before his desk, thinking about how similar that posture was to one another agent he knew quite well was capable of doing. No doubt Director Shepard had thought the same thing. Studying Ray, he took in the athletic build that had been maintained religiously through numerous missions for the Navy into NCIS undercover work and now in a state of limbo that had been defined by his predecessor. He was amused at the response since it gave no indication that he was intimidated. The man had been around the block before. He replied, "Name one."

"Most obvious, assignment on another op or to return back to the LA unit, but not as an official agent but as Delta Alpha 6. Courtesy of the late Director Shepard." Ray looked at Vance with a slight look of bemusement blended with the silent demand to not be bullshitted with. "Unless of course I am to be thrown in meaningless babysitting duties."

Vance blinked at the response. The manner was one agent but the reply was something else. He folded his hands together and replied, "No security detail this time."

"Oh, then when do I leave?" Ray expected that he would be handed the assignment without fuss and be expected to be where he had to be within a reasonable timeframe.

"You're not going anywhere."

Ray blinked at that. He was struck with a momentary point of confusion. "Not going anywhere?"

Vance would have been highly amused at the expression he was getting, but what he had on his plate was time sensitive and it would bring up old memories. "No. You're going to be working here."

"Doing what? Homeland security is their thing and I doubt you need some muscle. Most anyone important already has someone assigned."

Vance had to admit that he was impressed with the calm demeanor the man had in front of him. Everything he was seeing blew away what his personnel file said about him. He kept his thoughts to himself as he kept the conversation going, "You will be working here as a NCIS field agent. You're being fully reinstated."

Ray blinked. He didn't want to believe that Director Vance had just said that he was to be reinstated. He only agreed to his current position since Director Shepard sort of guilted him into it. He didn't believe a word she said about putting in a good word for reinstatement, and he had long gave up any hope of that and made lemonade from the life that had been handed to him. He looked at the director and he let out a dry laugh, "Have things changed around here so much that you developed a sense of humor or am I going deaf?"

"You heard me right. You're being reinstated."

Ray narrowed his eyes. Even with the confirmation, he wasn't entirely believing the situation. "And the price for that?"

"Price?"

"There is always a price, Director." Ray looked at Vance soberly. "I went from the dirty secret swept under the rug to asset Delta Alpha 6 and the cost was that I was at beck and call for anything sent my way and I couldn't even set foot in the building unless asked. That and I was made to understand that if I was caught I would be disavowed." He gave a slight smirk, "So there is always a price."

Vance stared at the man. He knew he had the right one for this since he didn't take things at face value. A lesson probably learned the hard way. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to hide much from him and what the man knew, they needed. With as slight smile, he replied, "The price… is Operation Dead Zone."

Ray was literally speechless. He almost forgot to breathe when he heard the name of the one thing that he wanted to forget but really couldn't. He blinked as he recalled that operation and he could hear the voices in his head… everything. He focused on Vance and asked, "What?"

Vance saw the reaction. It wasn't visceral but he could see the memory still had a profound effect on the man. He repeated, "Operation Dead Zone. Everything you know about the mission."

"But that is in the AARs. Why?"

"Because what can be accessed and what happened are two different things," Vance replied as he stood up. He maneuvered around his desk while keeping an eye on the man. "You are aware of the classification of that op. Considering you are a Navy SEAL."

"Reserves," Ray automatically retorted. He looked at Vance, trying to keep a modicum of respect. "And I have been bound to never speak of it again. It was the terms of me being allowed to remain with NCIS if only in name."

"In name and with a steady paycheck. Though it seems you've branched out." Vance gave a knowing smile at the man. "Something about a forensic and communications technology firm."

"You do what is necessary to not make waves. If you want to stay unnoticed." Ray didn't bat an eye at the implication. It wasn't a secret that he had other means of income. It was legally earned and he reported his wages and earnings to the IRS. There was nothing to be overly concerned about. And it did take his mind off of other things.

Vance wanted to chuckle at the response. "Didn't seem to enter your mind when you entered the Navy Yard after the explosion caused by Harper Dearing." He gave a pointed stare at Ray as if to say nothing the man had done went unnoticed.

"See that's a thing with serviceman and being raised by a Marine," Ray replied as he straightened slightly. He looked at the director, "You don't leave a man behind. You watch the back of the man next to you. Even if you didn't part on good terms." He uttered the last part softly before turning away to pace and think a little. He turned back around and asked, "What do you want that you already don't have?"

Vance was a bit suspicious, but he wasn't seeing resignation. He had been considering this for some time since the evidence had been brought in on the current case and what had been found out. He sat on the edge of his desk and replied, "First let me ask you this: in your years as Delta Alpha 6, have you had any contact with your old team?"

"No."

Vance eyed Ray. "No contact whatsoever?"

"Only contact with military personnel are friends I made at BUD/S." Ray looked at Vance. There was nothing to hide. It also reminded him that he had to pick up Callisto from the kennel where he boarded her. "As to the members of the team sent in to recover two research scientists in hot territory… no."

"You sure?"

"It was a condition of my state of limbo," Ray explained with a polite tone of reference for his situation. He looked at Vance, "No contact with members of the team on that operation or I would be severed completely. No benefits… nothing."

Vance knew the terms of Ray's position. He just wanted to make sure, not that he doubted the man's integrity. He didn't. It was all part and parcel of vetting the man. "Good."

Ray blinked and studied the director. He was well aware that he was being scrutinized while a job offer was being made. He took a step forward and shuffled on his feet. "Anything else?"

"That's what I needed to know," Vance replied as he folded his hands together in front of him. "Just doing my job if I'm going to reinstate you."

"For what? You have the AARs on Dead Zone. It's been dead in the water, put to bed for years. What could I possibly give you?" Ray was puzzled about the whole thing. He heard what Vance was offering but he still couldn't figure out what changed to bring this about.

Vance knew he was going to have to bring the man into what he was going to be involved with. The man could be trusted. The service record spoke for itself, even with all the redactions. The assignments he had the last few years showed skill in undercover and operations that officially didn't exist except from the personal records of Director Shepard, which she entrusted to Agent McGee. As far as he knew, McGee hadn't accessed them, under the assumption that it was a backup to a case.

Ray looked at the director with an expectant look. He sensed that there was a purpose to this whole meeting. He just wanted to know what it was about. Having been burned before, he was being cautious, but he was aware that he could be crossing a few lines. He respected the chain of command. He was a serviceman and got it. Yet, he was wary when it came to a possible mission that would basically throw him under the bus if something went wrong. He could see though that the director was debating internally on a few things. So he waited patiently, a thing he was good at.

Vance watched as Ray adjusted his stance to wait. He had to admit that the patience and willingness to wait out things was astounding. He decided to bring him up to speed, "We have a dead Marine, Corporal Jonathan Rawlings, attaché to Leland Biotechnics, was found dead outside a local watering hole for sailors from a gunshot to the back, through and through. What we found on his body was a business card."

Ray raised his brow. So far he wasn't hearing anything that would make him think that it had anything to do with the op that he had been essentially forbidden to speak of. He wasn't rude though, and waited for Vance to give him more details. He did have to admit that he was intrigued by the case and was already coming up with possibilities. He did miss conducting investigations. Well, he helped the LA unit a few times but for the most part, he was the one sent in to execute and plan and then disappear when the job was done.

Vance looked at Ray as he waited. Keeping his eyes on the man to watch his reaction, he added, "On it was information pertaining to Blackstone."

Ray felt his throat constrict slightly. So that was what had Vance rustling him up out of his so called retirement or limbo. Yet, there was a feeling of apprehension since essentially there was no one who was supposed to know or have anything to do with that op. The ones who knew were either dead or like him. Actually, he was the only one that was in the state of limbo. The other team members had been discharged or tapped to other sources. As team leader, he got the short end of the stick.

Vance studied Ray and kept going, "The name on the card was JJ Rook and a phone number."

"So it's a business card," Ray replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"The number was checked and it came back to a disabled line and a flag on the op. _Your_ op." Vance looked at Ray firmly. "That's why I am reinstating you."

"You want to reinstate me because of a business card?"

"A card with information that is not supposed to exist. That tells me that there is someone who knows about that op that shouldn't. Did you know Corporal Rawlings?"

"No." Ray looked at Vance with a piercing look. He shifted on his feet but didn't break eye contact. "The only people I've had contact with was an old friend from BUD/S. He watches and trains my dog when I'm not in town. As to the card… there is only one reason someone would have it," Ray replied as he gestured at the file, Vance was holding. "And the ones who would have it are dead."

Vance looked at Ray and could find no hint of deception. The man was not known for it unless he was going undercover. "Then we have a problem. So now you understand our situation?"

"I do now," Ray replied. He straightened up and put his hands on his hips. "So… what do you want me to do?"

Vance gave a slight smile. He put the file on his desk. "You're going to work with the team that is working this case." He leaned over and pressed the intercom button and said, "Send him in." He looked at Ray and continued, "You'll be working with…"

At that moment the door to the office opened. Ray turned and saw the one person he knew well and hadn't really seen in years. He uttered, "Gibbs."

* * *

 **A/N:** Welcome to the reboot of Operation Dead Zone under the series Delta Alpha Six. I hope you enjoy this reboot. Thanks for all of your support.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs was no stranger to surprises. In his line of work, you came to expect it since that made the difference when catching the suspect. Same went for the current case his team was working. He knew something was up the moment McGee's queries into the number on the card turned to lead them to a sort of dead end. The kind of dead end where it was flagged and one of the alphabet agencies started the stonewalling. He had brought the matter to Vance when he went to appraise him of the situation and the director said that he would look into it.

It seemed that it paid off since Gibbs had been summoned to the director's office. It was progress since he was determined to solve the murder of a dead Marine and there was nothing that irked him more than someone killing a fellow Marine. He made his way up the stairs to the floor where Vance's office was, noting his team doing their jobs, though something seemed a little off with Ziva. He couldn't put a finger on it but figured that DiNozzo was at it again with the pranks and the teasing. At this point, he was ready for something to get the ball moving again. Nothing did that more than having information at hand even if it had to be working with another agency. He was prepared to do that, but he wasn't prepared for what he saw when he entered the office.

Gibbs knew the man. Knew him well since how could one forget the man that pulled a weapon on you as part of his cover for an op that ended up joining his investigation? That left an impression on Gibbs and had the UC transferred to his team. It wasn't to be long though since…

"Gibbs."

Gibbs blinked and stared at Ray Salazaar. The man was standing there looking like he was worn down, but not backing down in his stance. There was surprise on his face as well and it seemed that neither of them had expected to see each other again. He walked forward deliberately and replied, "Salazaar."

Ray looked at Gibbs. It was obvious that there was tension there. How much of it was from his recent activities was probably not the case, but he didn't put it past Gibbs to have some idea of what went on. The other part was because of his self-imposed exile. Being polite, he said, "Been a long time, Gunny."

"Too long, Skipper."

Vance had been watching the exchange between the two and one had to be blind not to notice that the pair of them knew each other. It surprised him a little but then again maybe it shouldn't have. In either case, it was time to set the ground rules. "Well, I see you know each other."

"We, should, Leon," Gibbs replied, "He was on my team once."

Vance looked at Ray and the man replied, "A long time ago. When I was doing undercover work."

"Then this should make things easier," Vance replied, "Gibbs, I am reinstating Agent Salazaar to full field agent status."

Gibbs didn't bat an eye as he countered, "And how will this help with our investigation?"

"A question best answered at MTAC. Follow me." Vance left the office, not bothering to check if they would follow. He knew they would follow. Without question was another story but one that had interesting results.

Gibbs would have followed Vance directly but paused and gestured for Ray to go first. It allowed him to walk side by side and enable him to talk to an old friend, "You didn't call."

Ray twitched his lip slightly, wanting to smile. He replied, "Just got the call today. At the airport."

"Still could've called."

"You know me."

"I know. How are the kids?"

Ray grinned slightly, knowing that this was probably confusing the hell out of Vance since he wasn't married, and he didn't have kids. "Loud as ever."

"Should move."

"But I like it." Ray looked at Gibbs and gave a grin.

Gibbs allowed a slow smile to form. It turned into a full smile as he said, "It's good to see you, Skipper."

"Likewise, Gunny."

"Glad to see that there won't be an issue," Vance entered, as he paused at the security pad to MTAC. He looked at the two men standing there. He turned to open the door and gestured them to go inside. He followed them and looked at the technician seated at the terminal, receiving notice that they were coming online. "Now see if you can convince someone else."

Ray stood by Gibbs and looked at the screen. It had been awhile since he had been in MTAC. That had been fun on some level since no one noticed him. He blinked as the main screen went on and a familiar face came on the screen. It made him want to stand at attention, but he kept his at ease posture and he started to smirk when he heard, "Is that him?"

"Special Agent Ray Salazaar…" Vance gestured at Ray.

"Secretary of the Navy, Clayton Jarvis," Ray finished as he stepped forward. He kept a straight expression as he looked at the man that wanted to speak to him. "It's been awhile. The last time I saw you was before your appointment. Since then, the Navy's been in good hands." It was being polite, but he did have respect for the man.

"I'm surprised you remember," Jarvis countered with a serious expression on his face. He folded his hands over the folder on his desk. "Just as I was surprised to what led to this."

"Well things have a way of turning out as they do," Ray continued, wondering why Vance wasn't taking the lead. "I'm not one to carry a grudge. Just carry on."

Jarvis looked at the man and nodded, "Good." He opened the file and queried, "I assume you know why you have been recalled to duty?"

"Director Vance appraised me of evidence recovered that may have relevance to my knowledge."

Gibbs wanted to smirk at how Ray responded. The man could play politics but also make it clear that he wasn't one to stand it. He had forgotten how the man used to talk to commanding officers when they worked a couple of cases before the op that sent his friend away. He glanced at Vance and the director shot a look back at him.

Jarvis looked at Ray and asked, "Have you been in any contact with the team that had been deployed on Operation Dead Zone?"

Ray blinked but it didn't faze him. "As I told the director, no, I have not."

"Good, because you are going to be working this case."

Ray blinked at that in surprise. He was expecting resistance to the idea. At least a token one since SECNAV seemed to have a liking for him. This was downright surprising, and it had him thinking to think the worst. He ventured, "That I understood because it is to pick my brains on an operation that had been deem classified, but details elude me."

"Your contact information had been found on Corporal Rawlings' body from that op."

"Which I find to be unlikely since all participants were threatened with treason if it was ever mentioned or we talked to one another and I take that kind of condition seriously." Ray looked at the screen like he was talking to Jarvis in person.

"I agree," Jarvis replied.

Gibbs decided to fill in a little more, "Corporal Rawlings was working for R&D on weapons development. We suspect that he caught wind of Leland technology being stolen and sold. The card could be coincidence, or he took it off of someone you once knew and they are involved."

Ray listened to the explanation. It was a good one. There was just one thing wrong. "That's all well and good for an explanation, but there is one flaw in that. That contact name was one I was issued after I was tapped from JSOC." He looked at the three men looking at him. "I was codenamed Rook, mostly from a chess reference. The JJ was more of a joke."

"All the more reason for you to be reinstated." Jarvis waited until Ray was looking at him. He leaned forward and continued, "I don't doubt that you followed what you were ordered to. I want you to find out who it is. If it is a coincidence that they are using the name that you have been tagged with or if it is someone related to that operation."

"And if they know about Dead Zone?"

"Then we'll take care of it," Vance said.

Ray turned to look at the director, Gibbs and finally Jarvis. A few years ago he had been called in by Director Shepard and she offered to get him back in. He had been dubious about that since he had been burned before. He only accepted what she offered because she strong armed him into it. If there was a thing he liked about Jenny Shepard, it was the fact that she knew how to back you into a corner. He suspected she did the same to Gibbs and his hands were tied because he did have a strong sense of duty and following orders even if he loosely interpreted them at times.

This was an opportunity that seemed too good to be true. Too good in that he would be able to interact with Gibbs' team more freely and he could see people that he couldn't see previously because it had been too risky. That was the reward, but the question was whether or not he could go through with it, go down that path of memory lane to a time that was just… He wanted to take it at face value, but he knew he couldn't. He would do the job, if only to put a few ghosts to rest. He looked at the expectant faces and nodded, "Alright."

"Good," Jarvis replied as he sat back. "Find out who is responsible and put this operation to bed, Commander."

Nothing more was said as Jarvis signed off. Ray stared at the blank screen as it dawned on him the implications of this assignment. It was quiet, too quiet for his liking, so he offered, "Well that was interesting."

Gibbs didn't say anything but gave Ray a look. He looked at Vance who said, "Well, that's it."

Ray raised his brow at the pair of them. "Anything else?"

Vance looked at Gibbs and then at Ray. "He's all yours Gibbs. Just make sure he has the qualifications before he handles any evidence."

Gibbs gave a slight look as he turned towards the exit. He gestured for Ray to follow. Ray hesitated and looked at the director before he followed Gibbs out of MTAC. He didn't say anything as he pulled alongside Gibbs and kept pace to the elevator. He didn't look at anything in particular but he followed along silently.

"Are you okay?"

Ray looked at Gibbs as they entered the elevator. He gave a slight smile, "As well as can be, Gunny." He looked at the door of the elevator. "I'll admit I didn't expect this when I was called into the office. Pretty used to living in a state of limbo."

Gibbs didn't say anything. He knew that there was more to it than what was being said. He had a feeling that his old friend knew things and probably had done things that he couldn't talk about. There were some instances that he was certain there was more going on than meets the eye but when he went to poke and investigate, there was nothing or lack of evidence despite what he had seen. Like when Vance gave him, McGee and DiNozzo permission to head to Somalia to rescue Ziva. That was a job that… went differently from planned. "Doesn't mean you can't talk."

"I know," Ray admitted, "Just felt less of a risk."

Gibbs shot Ray a slight look and got one in return as the elevator dinged their floor. Nothing more was said as they walked down the halls to go do what was necessary. Each mulled on their thoughts about the events that just happened and thought about how best to go about solving the case at hand with the hand they had been dealt with.

* * *

Ziva could use a little distraction. Bringing Abby evidence was good enough, but she wasn't ready to head back to the bullpen. She would be plagued by her thoughts over what just happened. She was still trying to process it even though she should have expected something like this. It worried her. It worried her as she carried down the evidence along with a Caf-Pow she managed to get down to the lab.

Abby was busy was busy at her computer, trying to break into Corporal Rawlings' work computer that had been collected along with a few other things, but it was difficult. Major Mass Spec was working on something else, but it was clear that there was a line of frustration on the Goth's face as she tried another means of cracking the password and came up empty. She really needed her Timmy to work his magic since he was better at the hacking into the computer thing. She was frowning in concentration when Ziva came in. Automatically, she said, "Still working on it."

Ziva came to stand by Abby to get a good look. She saw the frustration as she put the Caf-Pow in front of the Goth and asked, "Should I call, McGee?"

Abby turned to look at Ziva and gave a smirk. She noticed that there was something off about the Israeli woman. Not the kind of thing that would make DiNozzo think that it was a guy or something he would tease her with. It was something different. She took a sip of her much needed sustenance and replied, "Gibbs has McGee working on something else. So, I'm gonna keep at it until I crack this little bastard." She raised a fist in mock anger at the computer for good measure.

Ziva couldn't help but smile. There was something about the perky Goth that just put a smile to her face. Sure, there were a few quirks that took time to getting used to and Abby could hold a grudge at times, but she was very loveable. It was no wonder that everyone on the team had their own means of affection for her. She held up the box of evidence she had brought down.

"What have you got for me?" Abby eyed the box like a kid getting a present.

It was a rhetorical question so Ziva didn't say anything. She watched as Abby started looking at the evidence she pulled out. She tried to decide if it was a good idea to bring up his arrival. She knew that he missed working there, but it seemed presumptuous on her end to assume that Abby would know him. She also didn't have all the facts. He was there, and it was obvious that he had been summoned. He had made himself known to DiNozzo and McGee, but that only increased her worry. And now she was worried about his appearance at NCIS.

She and Ray had met after she had been attached to Gibbs' team per Director Shepard. Actually, they met way before that. She just didn't figure it out at the time until after a couple of meetings. He had come out of nowhere during a case as backup. It was a drug bust gone bad, and they were shooting it out. She had been pinned down and was in danger of being hit. Then he appeared.

He appeared and managed to draw fire. It allowed her to apprehend their suspect, but not before she got a fairly good look. It made her think that she saw a ghost. It was brief, but she saw him again later. He came to her much like those spy movies that DiNozzo liked; it was at night and hiding outside her apartment window. There wasn't any reason she could find to call it in and she wasn't really afraid. Not of him.

Since then he would appear and help out. Each time, he would drop by and they would talk. It was when she figured out the ghost from the past. And he was willing to help when he could. He would be one of the contacts she would appeal to. He was dependable, and she cared for him. She also worried for him since sometimes he appeared, and it looked like his cover could be compromised. Much like when she was rescued in Somalia.

Remembering that and what happened between them caused her to intake her breath a bit. It was enough to have Abby notice and look at her and ask with concern, "Are you okay, Ziva?"

Ziva looked up and saw that Abby was looking at her. She had to cover and replied, "I'm fine. Just thinking about the case. Something just had me thinking and I'm… going to go… look into it."

Ziva knew she was completely out of character when she left Abby's lab, but she was in danger of talking about him and, while she could tell the team most everything, Ray was simply someone that she couldn't. Not after what she learned and remembered of him. Also, the adamant way he had of insisting that no one know about him… She got the feeling that there was a lot tied into that and it wasn't her story to tell, but his. It was better to leave, and she did, bumping into DiNozzo. She offered a token apology and continued towards the elevator.

DiNozzo had come down with a Caf-Pow for Abby since he didn't see that Ziva brought one down for the perky Goth scientist. He frowned when Ziva bumped into him, apparently distracted and offered an absent-minded apology. It had him suspicious and him wanting to be his usual self and find out, but he had more pressing matters and turned towards Abby, "So anything from the first set of evidence?"

"Still trying to crack the password on the laptop Corporal Rawlings used but…"

"Need McGoo?" DiNozzo offered the drink.

Abby took the proffered drink with her usual smile and took a sip. It turned into a smirk as she replied, "McGee is busy with whatever Gibbs has him working on. And I can do this. I don't need to run to him every time I have a problem."

The truth was that Abby was out of ideas on how to crack the encryption on the computer. It was a secret section that wasn't standard for Leland Biotech employees, even for someone like the corporal. It told her that there was more to the corporal than meets the eye; that he was working on something that the biotech company didn't want to talk about. If that was the case, she knew that Gibbs would be on it and make them fess up and she would have the science to back it up.

DiNozzo looked at Abby as she moved about, trying another encryption trick that came to mind. He thought about the strange guy that he was certain was an agent since he wasn't sporting a visitor's badge. He knew that Abby made friends with just about anyone. Maybe she heard something that he didn't. Plus, it might give Abby the distraction she would need to in order to come up with what she needed to crack the computer if she was determined not to ask McGee.

Making a decision, he ventured, "Abby, do you know of anyone supposed to be paying a visit today?"

"You mean like Fornell?" Abby glanced at DiNozzo as she continued to work. She noticed the look on his face and figured something happened in the bullpen. There were few things that could put that look on his face and she had a vague idea.

"Something like that, but not Fornell," DiNozzo replied as he shifted around and looked about her lab.

Abby smirked a little as she said, "Haven't heard anything."

"Not even if it was one of Gibbs' friends?"

"Nothing." Abby shrugged her shoulders. Her mind was putting pieces together, but it was mostly conjecture at this point. She had to learn more. "Why?"

"For starters, McGoo decided to let someone sit at my desk and make himself comfortable."

"And we know that is just awful," Abby teased, knowing that it would just encourage DiNozzo to talk a little more. She was now intrigued. A break was needed if she was going to figure out the encryption. This was fun, and she could still keep busy.

DiNozzo fell for it, "He looked like he could be Gibbs' twin, but younger. Had that knowing but not telling look." He frowned a little as he thought about the guy that he had met earlier. "And he was very familiar with the layout of the place. He knew to go to the director's office without an escort. That is not normal. Not normal at all."

Abby tried to keep it in as she looked at her samples. She asked, "Blazer?"

"Yeah. Complete with t-shirt, jeans, and shoes made for running." DiNozzo was looking out the window and frowning. "And he said he was keeping my seat warm."

"And McGee was okay with him there?" Abby turned to look at DiNozzo like it was a casual question.

"McGee let him sit in my seat when there was a perfectly good seat that nobody was using next to him. It was my seat," DiNozzo blurted out, clearly annoyed. "And then he walked through the whole place like he owned it. It was like Gibbs walking through. Not to mention that it looked like he was trying to see through Ziva."

 _That is so like him_. Abby turned to hide the smirk. She knew who DiNozzo was talking about and was up in arms about. She could feel the energy building up, making her want to go running up to the bullpen and see for herself. It had been way too long since she last saw him. He hadn't set foot in the building since he had been sent away. This was just too good.

"You know something."

Abby turned to see DiNozzo looking at her with a look of suspicion. She was having too much fun with this and gave a mischievous smile, "When did you figure that out very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo?"

DiNozzo gave a wry expression as he looked at her. "You know who it is?"

"I may," Abby replied with a smirk. She went back to the computer and started trying another encryption code breaker. "I've met quite a few agents here at NCIS. Some are more memorable than others."

"But are any of them that could pass for Gibbs' twin with dark hair and a totally unapologetic manner?" DiNozzo looked at the Goth who was smirking at him and looking like she was going to burst in excitement. She had to know who it was that had made himself comfortable.

Abby knew that DiNozzo was bursting with curiosity. She could have gone easy but decided to keep going, "No. Nobody I know."

DiNozzo knew it was a lie, but he wasn't going to call her out on that. Not if he wanted to leave the lab alive since he didn't doubt that Abby could commit murder and not leave evidence behind. He gave her a wry look and turned to leave the lab. He figured he would find out sooner or later about their surprise visitor.

Abby watched him leave with a smirk on her face. She waited until DiNozzo was gone before rushing over and grabbing her stuffed hippo Burt. She gave him a good squeeze and the dart came out. She jumped up and down on the balls of her feet and said in a loud whisper, "He's here! He's really here!"

* * *

 **A/N:** Ray's presence is known and there is speculation and worries abound. Stay tuned for next time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"You seriously want to put me through this?"

Gibbs shrugged as he looked at his old friend. "Fastest way to getting through the quals. SECNAV wants you on the case."

Ray looked at Gibbs and with a slight sigh, he took the set of headphones for his ears. He raised his brow as he put them on and the required safety goggles on. He picked up the Sig Sauer that was standard issue for agents and checked it. He picked up the magazine and checked it before putting it into the gun and locked and loaded it. He looked at Gibbs.

Gibbs watched his friend work with the gun. He didn't expect anything less than the expertise he was seeing. He knew that there was a lot of pressure to get Ray back on the job and work this case. He still didn't know all the details how he could be involved in this case, but he got the feeling that once Ray was brought on board, more would be revealed.

"You know, I haven't been to a shooting range in some time," Ray said as he finished checking his weapon.

"Maybe not for quals, but definitely in other things."

"I've no idea what you're talking about, Gunny," Ray countered. Maybe it was foolish to keep pretending that he wasn't former Director Shepard's and now Director Vance's pet project spec ops operator. Gibbs would certainly have an idea especially since Somalia, but Ray felt it necessary. And it was as he told SECNAV, he took the secrecy thing seriously.

Gibbs didn't say anything. He watched as Ray took his position. The buzzer sounded, and Ray brought up the Sig and emptied the whole clip. He noted how the man barely moved a muscle, if he did at all. Gibbs knew that the man was a very good marksman and it would be fun to see the result as the man put the gun in safe mode and stepping away from the counter.

"You know that I have an unfair advantage, Gunny." Ray had uttered it in a somber tone but there was a slight joking timbre to it. "I used my good hand."

Gibbs couldn't resist chuckling since he was well aware of that joke. It reminded him of when he learned that this agent was ambidextrous and could shoot just as well with his left as he could with his right. It was jokingly referred to as a secret weapon. And it certainly came handy when they worked the cases that they did. He gave a knowing smile as he countered, "It would have been unfair if you used the other hand."

Ray replied with a smile, "It would have been a slaughter." He sobered as he waited for his results to come in. He swallowed slightly, "I uh… heard about what happened with Dearing. I was tempted to walk into the yard to help."

"Why didn't you?"

"Who says I didn't?" Ray gave a slight smile as he turned toward the officials as they looked at his target sheet. His lip twitched at their reaction, like they were seeing something that was nigh impossible.

Gibbs was watching the same reaction. If he was correct, there would be three taps to the head, four to the chest and three to the stomach. All would be within close proximity of each other. They would be close enough to be barely touching. He was right when they brought it over for them to take a look and Gibbs couldn't help but grin.

It was exactly like when Ray did his very first qualifications. It impressed him them and it impressed him now. Ray still had it and was only proof, albeit miniscule, that his friend had been around at choice times to help them out. As far as he was concerned, he passed.

"Terrible."

Gibbs looked at Ray as he was examining his handiwork. He frowned and commented, "Same routine on quals for you the first time around."

"Precision is as important as accuracy. As a sniper, you should know that," Ray replied, gesturing to his chest set. He pointed where one was slightly off."

"I hear ya."

The slight smile Ray received, lightened the sense of dread that he had been feeling all day. It wasn't that he doubted his ability to do the job of a NCIS agent. The physical and the psych were cakewalk. The polygraph was a no brainer. True that they had been disproven for use in court, but a lot of places still used them. He played along with it and answered truthfully. The dread came from the inevitable meeting with Gibbs' current team.

His initial opinion when he sauntered in that morning was that the one that was sitting at his computer was good natured and seemed to be good with computers. The senior field agent struck him as someone who would be the kind to find out about the people he worked with and liked to poke his nose into other people's business. Personnel files were free for viewing as long as you had proper clearance and the senior field agent seemed the type to use full advantage of that. There was one wild card.

He knew that this was going to be hard on Ziva. She had done what he had asked and not revealed that he was a contact/source that helped the team out. It was his fault that he let his guard down around her, but he remembered her, and it was clear that she remembered him. He couldn't stay away, and when she came to him, he would give a token protest, but ended up helping her. Things moved from there, and he probably should have curbed it, but…

He gave a pensive smile at Gibbs and replied, "Well not all of us have sparkling records."

"But you have the skills I need," Gibbs replied in a low tone as he leaned forward. "The rest will come. Some more than others." He turned to walk away with a knowing look on his face.

Ray gave a wry chuckle at that. He shook his head slightly as he stretched his arms and rotated his shoulders. It relieved some of the tension as well as the ache that was in his right shoulder. At least he wasn't expected to do too much except qualifications. The real test though was about to begin. He sighed and followed Gibbs.

Ray didn't say anything as he followed Gibbs to the elevator. Once in he asked, "So… I pass?"

"Always have with me." Gibbs then reached over and shut the elevator off. He turned towards his friend to study him for a moment. "I need to know something, Ray."023.

"What I can tell," Ray replied with a slight gesture. He looked at Gibbs in the eye as he continued, "I meant it that I was forbidden from speaking about that op. I wanna help you guys out as much as I can."

"Vance and SECNAV pretty much gave you permission."

"They may have said spill, but from experience, there are no guarantees." Ray gave a sad smile. "I gave up a long time ago of ever getting back in. I was asked to do a job and was given a slight chance, but in the end…" He gave a slight shake of his head.

"But this is your chance."

"Been too long, Gunny," Ray replied, "I'm not ready to believe that. But I will help you. You just gotta trust me on this. I have my reasons." He gave a firm look at Gibbs to show the sincerity of his words. He had to do the best he could do. It wasn't that he wanted to keep secrets. It was that there was a lot riding on it. Ray was still haunted by the results of that operation that put him in the position he was in now.

Gibbs studied the look Ray was giving him. There was nothing to indicate that what Ray was saying was a lie. The man may have to keep his ops a secret, but he wasn't a liar. He did what he could to maintain an about as honest as he could get life. An honorable one and something that Gibbs respected and once teased him about being a Marine. He didn't say anything, but he did turn the elevator back on.

Nothing was said between the two, but there was a silent understanding about what had been spoken. Ray was able to breathe deeply as the door opened to the bullpen. Now was the moment of truth. He followed Gibbs out of the elevator to where his team was busy working on their assignments for the current case they were working on.

Trained as a SEAL, Ray was used to expecting the unexpected. It carried into other aspects of his life, but he was surprised when he was greeted by a whirlwind of pigtails and a lab coat flying at him. The only thing he could do was greet it and catch it before it crashed into him, sending them both falling down. He chuckled as he adjusted his stance to keep his balance, "Now that's a warm welcome, Abbs."

"You're here! I can't believe it, you're here!" Abby couldn't control herself and squeezed her arms around Ray's neck in one of her special Abby hugs. She had come up from her lab and asked McGee in a roundabout way about their visitor.

McGee humored her and gave his version of events from that morning. It only confirmed what she knew from DiNozzo's visit. Since she was waiting on the mass spec samples and she needed to think more about the encryption, she decided to wait for him to get back. Plus, she wanted to wheedle some help from McGee, her favorite, for the computer. She was at her wits end with the encryption and McGee was the logical choice to approach for help.

When Ray came in, she couldn't help herself and ran towards him. She knew he would catch her even if she caught him off guard. He didn't fail to deliver and gave her a hug as he set her on her feet. She asked, "So, are you here, here?"

Ray nodded, "Yeah."

Abby smiled big and gave Ray another hug before informing Gibbs that she was going to check on her samples and that she would have something for him soon. She then marched off to her lab, but not before extracting a promise from Ray to visit her lab.

Ray was agreeable to that saying that it was good to see Abby again. He watched her leaved and turned to see three pairs of eyes watching in curious interest. He turned to Gibbs and murmured, "Glad that some things haven't changed."

Gibbs replied, "Oh things have."

Ray chuckled in agreement. He sobered and allowed Gibbs to make introductions. DiNozzo was polite but eyed him like he was a suspect. No doubt he was trying to size him up and determine if he was a threat to the team. McGee was subtler and more polite, like he was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. More likely it was because that Ray had managed to make things speechless with DiNozzo.

"And this is Ziva David," Gibbs gestured at Ziva, who had been behind her desk.

Ray turned to look at her. She had been sitting behind her desk when he came in and she didn't even move when Abby gave her greeting. It was like the desk was a buffer. No doubt it would appear strange considering that she was known for knowing at least six ways to kill someone with a paperclip. Then again, it was probably to keep him at bay, and it was probably a good thing.

He was aware that his staring would raise suspicions, so he held his hand out to her. She reached across her desk and grasped his in a handshake and said, "Pleased to meet you."

He couldn't resist, "Pleasure is mine." He gave a smile as he peered at her with lowered lids. He released her hand and let his fingertips tease her skin.

It was innocent enough, but he knew that he was pushing it. He couldn't resist, knowing he was going to pay for it later. He turned towards Gibbs, "So what now, Gunny?"

Gibbs had watched the exchange between Ray and each of his team members. The one that caught his attention the most was with Ziva. He knew his old friend had a certain amount of charm when it came to women and had managed to get information using that charm. He hoped that it was only the charm to get on the good side of things. He didn't need to remind Ray about Rule 12. He looked at his new man and said, "McGee, get Salazaar up to speed on the case. Look it over Skipper and if you see anything worth mentioning…"

"No problem." Ray gave a nod of understanding. He looked at McGee and gestured, "Lead the way McGee."

* * *

Autopsy was quiet as usual even with the presence of the dead that were in the cubbyholes. Dr. Mallard, aka Ducky, was busy with paperwork. Specifically, it was the report regarding Corporal Rawlings' autopsy. He had completed the autopsy and was ready to relay his findings to Gibbs, but it seemed that other things had kept him busy. It was no matter since there was plenty to do.

He wasn't expecting anyone and frowned when he heard the door open. In truth he was frowning

since the way the door opened was not like how it was opened when the other agents came in. Gibbs had his own way of opening it. The same went for McGee or DiNozzo. Even Abby had a certain way of opening that door. It was part of the secret to why he appeared ready for them, even if he wasn't expecting anyone.

"Excuse me, are you Dr. Mallard?"

Ducky looked up from his report and turned towards the owner of the face. His first impression was that he was looking at a younger version of McGee when he first joined Gibbs' team. Yet he wasn't looking at someone who was green in the field. It was interesting and made him want to know more. He replied, "That would be me. What can I do for you, young man?"

Ray ventured into the domain of the ME for NCIS at an easy gait, rotating his shoulder. He had taken a break after being brought up to speed on the case. He needed it and the last thing he wanted was for the team to know something that could be taken the wrong way. He put a hand on the offending shoulder and ventured, "Do you happen to make in house calls?"

It was a peculiar question, but it caught Ducky's attention. He studied the young man and noted how he was favoring one of his shoulders. He recognized the movement. "Normally, I don't," he replied as he ambled forward to get a closer look, "But I am willing to make an exception. Step on over, Mr. er…?

Ray stepped forward, "Salazaar. Ray Salazaar. I just joined Gibbs' team."

"Ah," Ducky muttered as he moved to pull out a set of gloves. "You know, I didn't hear that Gibbs was looking for a new team member."

Ray sat down on one of the stools. He removed is blazer and draped it on the back of the nearby chair. He pulled his t-shirt off his right shoulder. He replied, "I was not put on by choice."

"Ah. An assignment. Perhaps to work on our current case?" Ducky made sure he had his gloves on and pulled out a few odds an ends for dressing a wound.

"More or less." Ray turned so his back was facing Ducky.

Ducky straightened up when he saw the gauze bandage on the back of Ray's shoulder. Using care, he peeled off the bandage. He frowned at the small bloodstain on the bandage and looked at the wound. He could tell from the stitches that it was a gunshot wound. He asked, "Line of duty?"

"Something like that." Ray leaned forward so his elbows were resting on his thighs. "The more active part of NCIS. More or less."

Ducky could read between the lines. He had an idea that this new agent was someone that was pulled because he had some relevance to the case regarding their dead corporal. Whatever he was doing was probably more along the lines of undercover work or possibly from a sister agency. And it seemed that he wasn't at much liberty to talk about it.

"Must be dangerous considering your injury."

"I've been injured before. I was a SEAL before this. Been on a few missions."

"Ah, that explains it."

It really didn't. It was more of a means of having a conversation and getting to know each other. Ray hummed, and it turned into a dry chuckle. "Actually, I was just reinstated. I've been in… sort of a limbo."

Ducky straightened up and turned to peer at Ray. "Oh, you're _that_ Mr. Salazaar." He went back to inspecting the injury. He didn't like that it looked so inflamed. "I've heard stories about an agent that wasn't an agent. It was more of a story to explain a few things that we couldn't otherwise do."

"You mean the ghost stories of a dark ops agent," Ray prompted. He chuckled, "What would you say if I told you that was me and it's the truth?"

Ducky raised his brow as he took the disinfectant and dabbed it on a swab. "I actually believe you. Gibbs called down and said you might be coming down though I would suspect to see Abby for results. But it appears that it was for this. You did have this wound treated when it occurred, didn't you?"

"As soon I was cleared." Ray shifted and looked at Ducky. "Had the bullet removed and the wound stitched. Took the next available flight home." He shrugged slightly at that as he finished, "Soon as I landed, got the call. I'm a busy guy."

"And are you following the post treatment care?"

"As best as I could. I flew home as soon as I was able and then I got the call. I have the pain pills." Ray looked forward, staring at the ground. He shifted and looked at Ducky with a slight grin. "It's gonna hurt for a bit."

"Well the wound looks a little inflamed but no sign of serious infection."

"I do as well as I can."

Ducky hummed at that as he cleansed the wound with disinfectant and swabbed it dry. "Well there are no torn stitches. Some slight pulling. The physical requirements?"

"Fast track to reinstatement." It never occurred to Ray to lie to the ME and he wasn't going to start now. "I was careful enough."

Ducky finished swabbing and pulled out some clean gauze. He placed it over the wound and applied adhesive tape. "Well you are good to go, Mr. Salazaar," Ducky assessed as he moved to throw away the used bandage and clean up.

Ray started to put his shirt on. He rotated his shoulder to test his momentum. It was still sore, but it felt better than it did earlier.

"I see that you have a profound interest in body art like our Ms. Sciuto."

Ray turned to look at Ducky and glanced at he his left shoulder. He knew that the ME was referring to the tattoo on the back of his left shoulder. It was a unique design that carried a lot of meaning to him. He never really elaborated on it to anyone except Ziva. The tattoo on his upper arm was to show his membership as a SEAL and that was obvious the other one… He explained, "Well, apart from being a SEAL, I'm into a certain kind of art… mostly religious."

"Are you a religious man?"

Ray gave a slight nod as he thought about how to answer that. Finally, he replied, "Not true devotee to Islam. I was raised Christian, but the tattoo was for someone I respected very much."

"Fellow SEAL?"

"More like a Marine," Ray replied as he picked up his blazer. He held it in his hands almost sheepishly. "Tough."

"Well it's good that you honor someone important to you."

Ray nodded in agreement as he put his blazer back on. "Well I believe that we make our lives meaningful by the people we encounter, and we build upon our knowledge and experience from that." He gave a shrug like it was no big deal.

Ducky turned to look at him. "Ah a philosopher."

"Nah, just someone who observes." Ray gave a gesture like it was no big deal. He put his hands on his hips and asked, "So… anything else I should know about the shoulder, Doctor?"

"Visit your primary physician to check on that wound. And you can call me Ducky."

Ray grinned at Ducky. "Alright. I'll remember that." He held out his hand for a shake. "Thanks, Ducky."

Ducky had taken the proffered hand and accepted the handshake. He thought the young man in front of him to be the most polite man he had met, even for a SEAL. He also had to admit that the young man bore a striking resemblance to Gibbs mostly in mannerism and posture. "You're welcome, Mr. Salazaar. I look forward to working with you."

Ray grinned and turned to take his leave. He pushed the door to leave and gave a wave. He bumped into Jimmy on his way out and apologized, "Sorry."

Jimmy was good natured in general and didn't mind. He smiled and said that it was okay. He watched Ray leave before turning back to Ducky and asking about him only to have Ducky brush it off as nonconsequential and to get back to their work.

Ray rode the elevator back up to the bullpen, leaning on the wall of the car. His shoulder felt much better and he did have the prescription for pain pills. He hadn't had a chance to fill it since he had headed towards NCIS after landing. Regular aspirin would do just fine if he needed it.

Leaning against the wall of the car he thought about his conversation. He glanced at his left shoulder. He never talked about that tattoo, but he had told two people about it. He told the truth… mostly. There was a reason for the tattoo. He took and breath and rotated his right shoulder again.

He had been on assignment when he got hit. He had reported to the LA headquarters for NCIS and got involved with a case related to drugs and a dead Marine. It ended up in a shootout and he took a hit with a .22 after pushing his partner out of the way. It hurt like hell. Getting shot did that. It wasn't fatal, but he did have to have it removed. And it wasn't a pleasant experience and he refused a sling for it. It was probably a mistake to.

It put him in thought of another time when he had been injured on the job. He narrowed his eyes slightly as he remembered the circumstances that led him to the position he was in now. He swallowed as he remembered the voices, the panic from his team when they realized that things were going FUBAR. He remembered getting hit.

The elevator dinged, and Ray sighed. He opened his eyes and looked at the door. He could still hear the memory he was just thinking about. Now he was working on a case that would force him to think about that memory and how it tied to the events of the current case. He still didn't think that there was anything that would substantiate it. And that little voice nagged him saying that it was just a means of burning him again.

The door opened but none of those thoughts showed on Ray's face as he exited the elevator. He passed by the desks that were occupied and went to the seat he had been given. He pulled his laptop towards him and started working on it. The sooner he figured this out, the better for everyone all around.

* * *

 **A/N:** Ray is introduced to the team and starts to plan out how he's going to survive this. Stay tuned for more on Operation Dead Zone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Tim McGee knew what it was like to be the new guy. He had been hazed by DiNozzo and Kate and even though he had gained some seniority, he still got teased and made fun of by DiNozzo and occasionally Gibbs. It was more subtle, like calling him Elf Lord. With the new agent in the house who introduced himself as Ray Salazaar, it seemed that no one knew what to do with him save for Gibbs and Abby. And it gave plenty of room to study and think.

Per Gibbs, he gave the rundown of the case to Ray and the man listened and studied the file with intensity that made it seem like he was getting ready for an op that was life or death. He asked questions when necessary for clarification and none of them seemed redundant or made to be annoying. McGee liked that and it soothed the fact that the man in the desk next to his knew his favorite lab rat, Abby, and in a familiar manner. It had McGee curious and glancing at the man throughout the day.

The rapid clicking was not bothersome but it had McGee glance over and watch as Ray ran through the keys on his laptop with great speed. He thought he was fast but it looked like he had some competition. After his debrief, Ray had gone to work, cracking his laptop open. McGee had offered to log him in but the man declined politely.

As it turned out, he had his own login. It had McGee frown at that since the newest agent was pretty much a probie, as in being the new guy. It took time to get clearance and the like even if they did speed things up. That busted the theory of completely new guy, and maybe one that was already an agent, but was moved to Gibbs' team and already had the access. Either way, the point was that the man had access and he looked very comfortable using it.

It had piqued DiNozzo's interest, but he was unusually subtle about it. McGee knew without a doubt that the senior field agent was checking in with HR about Ray Salazaar. He glanced over to see Ziva working and she appeared to not be bothered, but he couldn't forget her reaction that morning. McGee considered it was attraction and he wouldn't be wrong since Ray seemed to have a similar reaction almost seemed to stare right through the woman. McGee thought that was very brave since Ziva was former Mossad and knew multiple ways of maiming to killing someone.

Turning his focus back to Ray, McGee observed that the man was really going at it with something. He leaned over to see what he was working on since Gibbs hadn't technically given him anything to do. In fact, the boss hadn't been back to the bullpen since he went up to speak with Director Vance. So there was plenty of time to ask questions. It was just a matter of who would do it first.

Ray was well aware that he was being watched and observed. He expected it and he knew Gibbs would leave him to do the explaining. He was just waiting until one of them asked. First thing he learned after being sent into exile was to never volunteer information. Let them ask and even then, don't give them more than what they asked for. It was a defense mechanism since he had been burned a couple of times after that and since then, it was approach with caution. Something that was hit or miss with him.

He knew that McGee was curious about what he was doing by the way he kept leaning over to take a look. At one point, he shifted to angle himself so the agent could get a better look, but made it look like he was stretching. He liked McGee on sight and his gut was telling him that it was okay to let the guard down a little.

He went through the casefile and the leads that had been followed up on already. His biggest thing was looking into Leland Biotech. There was something about that biotech firm that struck a nerve. It had him rub the back of his neck while he sifted through information. He had to piece together why an op from long ago was connected.

"Wow. You've gone through everything. And that's new."

Ray blinked and realized that McGee had sidled closer. He glanced at the agent and tapped a few keys. "Went a little deeper on Leland. A degree in computers works wonders, plus amusement on weekends and it helps to have security clearance," he replied, explaining what he was doing. He gave a slight grin to show McGee that he wasn't the bogeyman.

"You program?" McGee heard the explanation and while the fact that Ray admitted to security clearance, he was hung on the fact that the man knew computers.

"For fun mostly, but at the office… it's useful." Ray tapped a few more keys. He was used to holding conversations while otherwise occupied, but only if it wasn't during a serious matter like an op. He gave a slight grin since he remembered that he had something for Abby, meaning that he would have to make time later to go and see her. He clicked a few keys and brought up another page.

McGee had been watching and was impressed. They had more on Leland than their initial search gave them. He watched Ray frown as he opened up a web page and entered in the address. What he saw had him blink in surprise, "Wait. You're _that_ Salazaar?"

Ray blinked and looked at McGee. He found the agent looking at him like he just met the pope or his favorite celebrity. He then glanced at what he was looking at and realized what had happened. He didn't realize that it would be recognizable once the connection was made, but he could have a little bit of fun with it. A ghost of a grin appeared and he couldn't help but tease the agent, "What other Salazaars are there?"

"Yeah McGoo, what other ones are there that haven't got a redaction as long as the Navy Yard," DiNozzo addressed McGee, but was looking at Ray. He had narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the man.

Ziva had been doing her work, finding it easy to pretend that everything was fine. She only looked up when she heard the tone in DiNozzo's voice. She heard the suspicion and it made her feel protective of Ray. She was tempted to jump up and come to his defense, but she knew well enough that he could handle it. She just didn't like it.

Ray looked at DiNozzo and gave a wry grin, "I see you've accessed HR. Redaction is a common thing when you are a former SEAL."

"You're a SEAL?"

"Former," Ray uttered though that wasn't true. He could still be called into active duty. He was just reservist. Time for technicalities later. "Some things still aren't clear to be released and… I've been undercover."

Ziva blinked at that. It wasn't exactly a lie. He did work undercover when he had to. He just wasn't known because he was NCIS's black ops operator. That was one thing he couldn't tell, but he knew how to work around it. The fact that he was mentioning it at all meant that he was giving a degree of trust to the team. That was a relief.

"Not to mention that you're the founder and CEO of DigiCom, the country's top programming company. They've developed programs used in forensic analysis, training programs…" McGee was filling in more blanks on the one thing that Ray could be a sort of public face in.

DigiCom, was the development company that Ray started when he realized that he wasn't going to get back in as a field agent. While he was paid, he needed another source of income. He started off small with the one thing that was always in the forefront of his thoughts and that was forensic analysis. He studied the competition and made something completely new and it jumpstarted his company on the path to being a top company with rumors that it had government contracts. The main specialty was in communications technology, but it branched into other areas. It was pretty impressive and nonexistent if one went to where Ray actually lived.

Ray could hear the hero worship in McGee's voice. No doubt NCIS and sister agencies have utilized training programs from his company or used technologies developed to do their jobs. Last he was aware, a prototype in communications was being used with an ODA team from DIA. He replied, "The gaming division has picked up in recent years. We recently got a contract to create _Deep Six_."

McGee wanted to groan at that. He remembered when his publisher approached him about an offer that was made. It was to create a tactical game story based on his book. At the time he said yes it was to get his publisher off his back for another book. He figured it was no big deal and it wasn't like anyone was going to find out until much later down the line when it came out, and even then it wasn't like his co-workers were into gaming. Now he was sitting with the owner and everyone knew. He tried keeping a neutral face.

"I always liked games that forced you to think and from my understanding, the names were going to be changed or something like that." Ray frowned as he was checking a few things. "Not my area though. That's Jo's."

"But you are the owner?" McGee raised his brow in a questioning manner.

"Yep. I get a kick out of making things that help catch the bad guys." Ray continued to stare at the screen, finding the connection he was looking for. "Now I remember why that sounded familiar."

"What sounded familiar?"

"I have a consultant over at Leland on nanotech." Ray sat back and frowned, wondering if that was the connection. The thing was, no one at DigiCom knew about his time as a field operator. They knew he was a former SEAL but that was about it. Mostly it was praise on his ingenuity. This though could spell trouble on his end.

"And you didn't think to tell us?" DiNozzo was on his feet and making his way towards Ray.

Ray sat back in his seat and looked at the senior field agent. He recognized the assertion of authority but he wasn't afraid of DiNozzo. He gave a look like he was bored or it wasn't a big deal. Usually that infuriated people. He shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant manner, "I may be the owner and CEO, but my right hand Jo is the one that handles operations. I only see the reports."

"Sounds a little irresponsible to me," DiNozzo allowed as he studied the man. "It sounds like it's an excuse for something else."

Ziva thought she was going to have a heart attack the moment she heard that. She worried that someone would find out about him from the moment she accepted his offer of being a contact. It guilted her when she left him and went back to Mossad that led to her capture in Somalia. It relieved her when he came to save her and then guilted her again when he left after bringing her home. And yet she couldn't live without him in her life and she made that clear. Now it seemed that DiNozzo was going to unravel that.

Ray looked at DiNozzo. It could be that the man figured things out or he was just looking for an excuse. He was in the hot seat, and he could tell that it was bothering Ziva. He looked at DiNozzo and replied, "Maybe, but my talent is in programming and building things. Jo makes sure that I don't run it into the ground after I let it grow. I don't know all the projects, but I am consulted on when there's a problem. I like getting my hands dirty. Not sure about you." He cast a glance at DiNozzo's suit.

McGee blinked at that move while Ziva felt the air rush back into her lungs. It was a risk that Ray was taking making a comment about the suit DiNozzo was wearing, but McGee had to admire that since the man wasn't about to let DiNozzo walk all over him, and yet he was being oddly polite for someone who had once been one to get his hands dirty.

DiNozzo looked at Ray and a sort of awkward stare off began. It was awkward since DiNozzo was standing up and looking down at Ray. It was positional-wise a stance of dominance. Yet, Ray was looking up with a firm look and it hinted at anything but submission. It was clear to people in the room that the man had been in a leadership position and was not so easily intimidated by posturing of seniority. He had earned his stripes and wore them proudly.

"Grab your gear."

The spell was broken when Gibbs' voice entered the bullpen as he walked towards his desk to pull out his service weapon. "Got a dead sailor related to our dead Marine."

That got everyone moving except Ray. He sat back in his seat as he minimized his windows and locked his laptop. He watched as everyone started leaving, well aware he hadn't received any word in regards to his status. He may be reinstated, but he had to be cleared to handle evidence. He didn't even know why he closed his session on his laptop. Old habits.

"Do you need a special invitation, Salazaar?"

"On your six, Boss."

It was automatic for Ray to stand up and start moving. He started to head towards the garage where everyone else was heading when he was stopped by Gibbs. He looked down to see a holstered Sig being held out towards him. He glanced at the man with a raised brow and got his silent answer, encouraging him to wrap his hand around the weapon and pick it. Nothing more was said as the pair walked towards the elevator with Ray clipping the weapon to his belt.

* * *

It was a stroll down memory lane for Ray as he walked around the crime scene, sketching and writing on a notebook. Ziva was examining for evidence that could lead to their killer. McGee was taking photos of the scene and DiNozzo was talking to witnesses. Gibbs had handed out the assignments this time around even though his team usually did it automatically. Ray suspected that it was to prevent DiNozzo from giving him the dirty work. He wasn't going to question it but do his job.

He walked around the area, making note of evidence tags and marking them on his sketch. He also took note of measurements, angles and wrote them in his notebook. It was more eyes and no hands, but it was a start, and he started figuring out what Gibbs wanted him to do. He would indulge. So, he continued his observations, noting everything, but he couldn't help but let his gaze linger on Ziva. Luckily, Ducky's assistant Palmer was in his view.

Ziva was well aware that Ray was staring at her, and knew well enough he was only doing it because Palmer was there. For what reason and purpose, she guessed had to do with why he was walking around the scene. He wasn't just doing a basic sketch of the scene. She decided to ignore it and continue looking for anything that the killer could have left behind.

Palmer was oblivious to the staring and the tension that was existing between the newest agent and Ziva. He went about his business prepping the body for transport back to HQ after receiving a polite welcome from Ray even though they had bumped into each other earlier. He didn't have any issues with the man, and didn't doubt the fact that if Gibbs had him there it was because he wanted him there. He figured that Ray was a specialist since he seemed to be taking more notes than anyone else while completing a crime sketch.

Ray was well aware that this was an acid test and he was being studied. He knew that Gibbs knew he could be an investigator. It was a matter of showing the others that he could do the job. He studied the body as Palmer laid out the body bag and kneeled to survey the scene, noting the entry point on the body. Ducky had declared it was a GSW to the back. He looked at the injury and the way the blood pooled and frowned as he continued to kneel and stare at it. A thought was coming to mind as he shifted to look at the area around the body.

"What are you doing?"

Ray shifted to see that Ziva was looking at him. Her expression showed professional curiosity but her eyes spoke volumes. He knew that bluffing his way out was not going to fly with her. Besides, he had nothing to hide. He straightened up and gestured at the scene, "Surveying the scene. Getting a feel for it while sketching."

"Getting a feel for what?" Ziva was writing on the evidence envelope for the evidence she had collected.

"The scene. Visualizing it going down." Ray moved closer and looked at the body. "Palmer, was there unburnt powder?"

Palmer finished getting the body in the bag and was preparing to lift it. He frowned as he recalled the initial observations and replied, "No."

Ziva frowned, asking, "What does that have to do anything?"

"Presence of powder," Ray explained. He stood above where the body fell and started turning in a circle, eyeing the surrounding buildings. "Indicates an extremely close encounter. The usual effect on the entry would is stippling. Lack of it means that there was some distance, like dueling distance, but taking into account the witness statements… I'd say that Lt. Caldwell was hit by a sniper round. More likely from a Remington SR-8."

"Now that is laughable," DiNozzo's voice entered as Palmer rolled the body away. "There is no way you can tell what kind of a rifle that was used."

"Entry hole is consistent with a .338 Lapua Magnum," Ray pointed out, "The kind of ammo used for a Remington and it's one of the more popular rifle." He gave a slight shrug and allowed, "Of course, Ducky will need to retrieve the bullet and Abbey would need to confirm."

DiNozzo and Ziva looked at Ray like he had just recited the algorithms to launch a space shuttle. He looked back at them like it was the most obvious thing in the world. DiNozzo frowned and asked, more as a means of trying to make a fool of Ray, "Okay, so, if it was a sniper, then why was Lt. Caldwell out here in the first place?"

"Can't tell you that," Ray replied with a shrug, "But I can tell you where it came from."

DiNozzo grinned at that, "Alright then. Show me."

Ray gestured for Ziva to come towards him. Once she was close enough, he moved her to where he could ascertain the victim had been standing when he went down. "Since Ziva is roughly the height of the lieutenant, she'll be Caldwell. From initial observation of the body, point of entry was here," he explained. Using his gloved pinky, he touched Ziva's back gently.

DiNozzo was impressed and amused. He could tell Ziva wasn't liking it and it showed in her face. In fact, he didn't know anyone who could touch the ninja from Mossad like that and walk away without being maimed. It was a slow means of gaining favor.

Ray ignored everything except presenting his evidence, "Now the angle suggests coming from an elevation that is gradual but not steep. Makes sense since there are no skyscrapers out here. Taking that into account, position of victim, wind adjustments, our killer fired from approximately… that direction." Ray pointed at what appeared to be an old warehouse. He shrugged his shoulders, "Give or take."

"Nice to see you haven't lost your touch," Gibbs' voice entered as he approached. He had seen the whole demonstration and decided to let it play out. He couldn't protect Ray from everything and the man knew how to play well with others.

Ray shrugged as DiNozzo squirmed wondering how much of the conversation Gibbs may have heard. It was a wild card since sometimes he did and sometimes he didn't and it was always random, if you judged by the head slaps. Ray was the one that replied, "I know my guns and specs."

Gibbs didn't comment on that, but he gave a silent command that Ray acknowledged. He did say, "Take McGee with you."

Ray nodded as he put his crime sketch in his kit and picked it up. It was going to be a hike to the building, but not a problem for him. He paused by McGee as he was wrapping up his photos and said, "Need you to come with me."

"What for?"

"Found where the bullet came from."

McGee pursed his lips. He considered questioning it, but decided against it. He picked up his kit and made sure his camera was secure before trotting to catch up with the newest agent. He waited until they arrived at an old warehouse that was a hike from their crime scene to ask, "You're saying that the bullet that killed Lt. Caldwell came from here?" He frowned at that since he was not entirely aware of the conversation that explained it.

"Killer was a sniper, McGee," Ray replied as he looked upwards and a means of getting to the roof. "Lack of powder, angle and lack of evidence confirms it." He found what he was looking for and gestured for McGee to follow.

McGee was wide eyed at the explanation, but accepted it. "And you think this is from where he shot from?"

"About the right distance for a decent shot," Ray replied as he started climbing the fire escape. "It's what I would have done. If I were still a SEAL."

McGee nodded, accepting the unspoken answer that the agent with him was like Gibbs in that they both trained as snipers. It took one to know one. He followed Ray up the escape to the roof, pausing slightly to take a breath. Heights still made him nervous, but not crippling in fear. He just needed the moment to reassure himself.

The breeze was cool and it rippled through Ray's hair as he did an initial survey of the building. He looked along the wall that would have faced where the crime scene was. There were a number of good spots to shoot from. Without precise measurements, he was just going to have to search until they found something. He gestured at the wall, "That wall. Take it slow. Look for anything to indicate a sniper next. Dirt voids, casings, if any… the works."

McGee nodded and went to the opposite end of their search area. He held his camera and noted that Ray had pulled out one himself and started looking at the ground. McGee turned his attention to his task and started looking. It was slow and almost tedious, but they had to check everything. Even McGee could see that there were a number of potential places and there could be evidence that was tracked as the shooter made his exit.

It was a good lesson in patience since they were both near the middle when McGee caught a glint of something. He kneeled to take a closer look while calling, "Ray. I got something."

Ray looked up from where he had been looking and moved over to where McGee was hunkered down and joined him. He pulled out an evidence marker and put it next to what McGee was looking at and let the agent take a few shots. He blinked as he saw it, not quite believing that they would find something like what he was looking at.

Reaching out tentatively with a gloved hand, Ray picked up the piece of evidence and brought it to eye level. It was shell casing. A .338 like he said it would be. Now that they found it, he had to verify that this would have been the place. He handed the casing to McGee to bag and tag and shifted to look at the ledge for any signs of a pod rest for the barrel.

He didn't see one, but he was kneeling and facing in the direction of the crime scene. Using his camera like a scope, he brought it up to take a look. He moved the camera around and visualized the shooter tracking his target. It reminded him when he was a greenie and his partner was his spotter. He maneuvered the camera until he caught Ziva. He tracked her as she was finishing what she was doing.

"So you think this is it?"

Ray blinked and lowered the camera. "Yeah," he replied as he cleared his throat. "Line of sight to the victim is from here." He gestured where he was positioned. "Casing would have cleared after the shot was made, but he didn't police the casing." He looked downward at the ground where it had been marked.

"Good or bad?"

"Good for us… maybe." Ray mused a bit at that. Good snipers policed their brass when the job was done. This was sloppy. And he didn't like it.

"Maybe a calling card," McGee offered. He held out the evidence bag with the casing. "There appears to be some sort of marking on the casing. Looks manmade."

Ray looked up sharply and held out his hand. "Let me see."

McGee handed it over a little confused at the tone he was hearing. He didn't say anything, but finished up to make sure that they didn't leave anything behind. In the meantime, Ray studied the evidence and rotated the bag until he saw what McGee had been looking at. He felt his throat constrict slightly at what he saw. Things just got a lot more complicated.

* * *

 **A/N:** Another dead body and it seems what Ray fears is what everyone suspects. Things just got a little more complicated. Stay tuned for more Operation Dead Zone.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 _The transport was going to take them within two clicks of the compound. Negotiations were still going on and any sign of foul play before things were in place could screw the pooch and things would go beyond FUBAR. Ray looked at the team that had his back op after op. They were all near indistinguishable under the grease paint they wore, but Ray knew who each one was. He grinned at his second and right hand man, "You ready, Simkins?"_

" _Ready, Boss"_

 _Ray frowned a little as he picked up a loaded mag and peered at the ammo. A slight smile appeared, "Still using your specials?"_

 _Simkins chuckled as he reached for the mag and loaded it into a pouch, "I like leaving a calling card. You know that story."_

" _How could I forget," Ray replied, "Your first kill."_

" _I etched the verse that came to mind. Since then, I do it on all my ammo." Simkins adjusted his rifle and locked and loaded. He grinned, "Sort of like a talisman."_

 _Ray nodded. He thought it a little morose. "We all have our quirks, but we're a team. Right, guys?"_

 _The team grunted their approval and Ray took the moment to reiterate their mission. Everyone knew where they were supposed to be and executed it the moment the chopper dropped them at the LZ. Ray on point and Simkins covering their six…_

Ray looked at the casing in the evidence bag with a frown as he remembered that night. He slowly blinked as he recalled the details. He could still hear himself issuing the orders when things went south. All the way down to extraction. He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead on his fist while clenching the bag in his hand.

So an old teammate was involved, but that didn't explain why his old call sign and contact information was on the body, and it didn't really lead to how a Marine corporal and a Navy lieutenant were connected. He could make a guess or two, but… He really didn't want to admit it, but it was looking more and more like it and what that could mean…

"Did you find anything?"

Ray felt his eyes open wide in surprise. He sat up and looked to see Gibbs looking at him. He looked at the evidence bag he had been staring at. He hadn't taken it down to Abby yet, and had been sitting at the desk he had been given, looking over everything and thinking about their find. Part of that was thinking about how to tell Gibbs that what he was brought in for was basically coming true. Lying wasn't an option even though he had the talent to get away with it, if not for long.

Biting the bullet, Ray looked at Gibbs and showed the bag, "Shell casing. It's a .338 like I said, and I know who it belongs to."

Gibbs straightened out and looked down at the man waiting for an answer. He suspected that Ray had a lead, but had been reluctant to say anything, and he suspected on the why. In truth, he didn't blame his old friend for his actions. It was hard to accept that someone you thought you knew was not who they were supposed to be. He could demand it out of the man and Ray would tell him, but it would strain the working relationship that they were put into.

Ray looked up at Gibbs. There was no easy way to say it, but he had to. "It's a member of my old team."

"So there are ties?"

"Not saying that," Ray replied with a slight shake of his head. "Could still be a major coincidence with my info on Rawlings' body. Shooter could've took on a side gig. After what happened, some stayed and some quit."

"And you think it's one of them?"

"I know it is."

Gibbs stared at the man for a moment. Luckily his other agents were off doing what needed to be done. He had sent McGee down to help Abby. DiNozzo and Ziva were following up on leads they uncovered. So it was just him and Ray in the bullpen. No distractions. It didn't mean that it was going to be made easy. The conviction was clear but also the regret in Ray's eyes. "Talk to me."

Ray gave a slight smile and a hum, "I used to say the same thing at one point."

Gibbs pulled a chair to sit across from Ray. He looked at the younger man and pressed, "What do you know about our shooter?"

Ray continued to grin fondly. He pursed his lips as he recognized the tactic. "You're looking for an ex-SEAL. Proficient to mastery in sharpshooter. He marks his ammo with a sort of talisman." He put the envelope down and rotated it so Gibbs could visibly see it. He glanced away and continued, "He was my best shooter, Gibbs."

Gibbs took in the information. There was no reason for Ray to lie about it. The man may have secrets, but he was loyal. Loyal to the country he served. He nodded at that. "And are you able to bring in someone you once called friend?"

Ray sat back and shrugged, "As part of the job, he is the one that committed a crime. He has to be brought in." He narrowed his eyes in determination. "It's what we do."

Gibbs could have pressed, but he knew that Ray wasn't going to divulge on his feelings and thoughts. Not if he felt them irrelevant or he was hiding more than he revealed. He knew he didn't know everything about that operation that had Ray disavowed all these years. True Vance could and probably did get access, but like all things top secret, it was redacted to the point that it wasn't worth trying to read it. He had t rely on Ray telling him, but it was a sore spot. His lip twitched as he replied, "As long as you can handle it."

"I made an oath the day I got the trident." Ray lifted his sleeve to reveal the trident tattoo of the Navy SEALs. "Even though I'm not on the battlefield, same principles still apply."

Gibbs nodded in approval as he stood up while Ray turned back to his laptop to work on what he was working on. He noticed the frown still present on Ray's forehead. He leaned over the desk and said in a gentle tone, "You know you can trust me. Trust Vance, right?"

"I know, Gibbs," Ray replied as he continued to look at his laptop screen. "Just… one of those things." He looked up at the man. "I mean… I'm not anxious to be slapped with a treason charge. I don't work that way."

"I know."

Ray grinned and hummed at that. His forefinger tapped one of the keys gently. "I know that I have permission to say what I know, but I'm cautious on this. But I will say that my circumstances are a result of some high players on the hill."

Gibbs knew what that meant. He didn't deal much with the politic side of things much, but he knew that he did have to play that game on occasion. Typically, Vance did that most of the time. The position of director called for it. It eventually trickled down to things that had to do with the US government, including the military. Major operations had to be approved by committees. However, a black op, that was something else, but he did know what it meant with Ray mentioning it.

"If it makes you feel better, Gunny, if something does turn up, I will fill you in before it becomes a problem."

"Fill me in on what?" Gibbs walked away. He knew the drill. "Get that evidence to Abby."

Ray raised his brow as Gibbs walked away. He knew Gibbs for years and knew the man disliked being kept in the dark. He recalled one instance where there was the usual pissing match between NCIS and FBI and the annoyance was clear on his face even though he maintained professional courtesy. Ray just wasn't sure about the whole disclosure of everything and he was well aware that his reluctance to do so wasn't just because of the threats to his life and job, but because he wasn't ready to fully deal with the consequences he accrued.

Ray had been prepared for being disavowed and then being used for the things that civilians had the luxury of getting in arms about. He had prepared himself when he was selected for SEAL training and he reported for BUD/s. He earned his trident like his fellow SEALs, but it was a different story when he was assigned to counterterrorism and that meant actually shooting someone.

It wasn't easy being raised with a brilliant Marine scientist of a father and a devout Christian mother who, coincidentally had family that came from Syria. His father was Spanish and they had Moorish ancestry as well. He had the Arab blood running in his veins. After 9/11, it wasn't easy because he looked the part until he gave his name. Still, he kept up the job making his father proud and is mother worried, but also firmly believing he was doing what God willed him to do. He wasn't too sure of it himself, but he believed in justice and fair play. It was more than likely what got him in his predicament now.

When he was assigned his own team, he followed the example of his father, but also the Christian principles of his mother. In the end, he had guys that begged to join his team until he was placed with NCIS, opting to go on reserve after his mandatory. He was undercover for NCIS and that was how he met Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs. It was kind of funny in hindsight how they always got on each other's nerves playing the roles for their jobs, but in the end, they became friends. Gibbs had him transferred to his team and things went well there until he was called by JSOC into active service. And he went, ever following orders and he kidded with Gibbs stating that it was nothing and he would be back before anyone noticed.

Ray wasn't cocky in general. True he would boast like anyone else. He was proud of his skill set and proud of what he did. He understood the concept of modesty. The thing was, that op changed everything, including him. It devastated him that he couldn't be with the agency and irked him since he was too valuable and knew too much to be kicked into the gutter and left to fester. Limbo was agony since it was laced with uncertainty. With it also came the attitude of devil may care as he took up late Director Shepard's offer, not believing for a second she could get him back in. It was something to do other than become rich off a communications technology company he developed that coincidentally ended up being awarded government contract.

He didn't know if it was covering their collective asses or true coincidence. Anyway, once he found out about the government contracts, he kept a low profile at the company, showed up when necessary and signed what he needed to get things moving. He knew more about his company than he let on. It was years of self-preservation and watching his six since no one else was. His right hand Jo did it as well, but only on the company. He didn't let anyone close enough to do it on all levels, except one.

Ray felt his throat convulse and tried to brush the thoughts away as he made his way to the elevator to deliver the casing to Abby. While he may have identified the shooter based on markings and the range, and among other things, she needed to confirm the biologicals and things that they couldn't see with the naked eye. It was hard though since she was always in his thoughts and the way she looked at him like he was a ghost…

He needed a break and he did have to give Abby something. At least now he had a reason for being in the building and giving it to her. If this case hadn't come along, he would have been hard pressed for a reason for being in the building even though he had clearance and access. He had been terrible with communication, but he never forgot to email or even send a letter to his favorite scientist. He just had to prepare physically in case she jumped on him again. He got into the elevator car and pressed the button to head down to her lab, pulling out what he had brought her and twirled it in his fingers while the other hand clenched the evidence casing.

* * *

Abby was frustrated. No, she was beyond frustrated. Even more so, she was ready to yank the offender and throw it against the wall, but she couldn't do that lest she destroy evidence. She growled as she tried again and failed to get into Corporal Rawlings' laptop. Every trick she could think of failed her and it was driving her insane to the point where her music was blasting louder, making a jackhammer quieter than her music. She narrowed her eyes in a murderous gleam at the offending laptop coming to terms with the fact that she was going to have to pull out the big guns. But she was reluctant to admit defeat.

"Abby."

Maybe she should try a combination of decryption algorithms. That might help. She tried her idea and did the old fingers crossed to see it would work. She stared at the screen.

" _Abby."_

The negative beeping caused Abby to growl. She raised her fist in anger and roared at the ceiling. Why was everything against her?

" _ABBY!_ "

Abby turned down the music automatically when she heard her name being shouted. She whirled to see McGee standing there trying not to wince from the volume. She immediately felt bad since she could have damaged his hearing and it was a little too loud. She gave him a smile and exclaimed, "McGee! Just the man I need."

McGee tried not read into that statement more than for what it was. He sighed in relief that the music was turned down. He could hear it the moment the elevator car stopped at her level, before the doors opened. He stepped closer and said, "Gibbs said that you might need some help."

"I do," Abby replied, glad that McGee was there and she didn't have to ask for help, but felt a little disappointed that it was Gibbs that sent her favorite down rather than him taking the initiative. Though to be fair, McGee had his own work to do on the case and it had kept him fairly busy. She gestured at the laptop, "This password encryption has me wanting to borrow your gun to shoot it." She glanced at McGee, "Can you work your magic on in?"

It was a warm feeling that came up when she referred to his ability as magic. She was good too, but she claimed he was a magician at computers and meant it. It was not flattery but honest assessment. It made him want to do the very best to help. "I'll see what I can do," he replied in a calm tone as he pulled the laptop towards him and started looking at what Abby had done so far.

Abby hugged McGee around his neck before moving to check up on Major Mass Spec. She had been stuck in the lab all day and she was dying of curiosity. She glanced over and ventured, "So… what was it like?"

"What was what like?" McGee didn't look up from his work. He could carry on a conversation with people while doing what needed to be done and mostly it was just a matter of muscle memory of where the keyboard keys were.

"You know," Abby replied knowingly as she spun around, not put out that McGee wasn't looking at her. "Working with Raymie?"

"Already nicknaming him?" McGee tried to keep the jealousy out of his voice.

"Oh he already had one," Abby replied, brushing it off. "Back when he first worked with Gibbs."

"Figured that one out." McGee typed in a few lines of code. "It was interesting." He paused and turned to look at Abby. "Did you know that he could calculate where our shooter shot from? And that he used Ziva as a mark?"

Abby filed that bit of information away. "Really? And she didn't try to break his arm?"

"No."

"Wow." Abby turned away and went to work on her samples. That was definitely something she was going to have to look into. "I bet he just strolled through the crime scene."

"Pretty much and then sounded like a college professor I once knew, rattling off everything." McGee turned back to his work. "It was pretty impressive and we found the casing."

 _That's my Raymie_ , Abby thought to herself. She had to ask, "But what do you think of him?"

McGee thought about it. He liked the new agent. He didn't take flak from DiNozzo and he seemed comfortable admitting when he might be off with Gibbs. He wasn't intimidated by it. He shrugged, "I like him. I didn't know that he was the owner or DigiCom."

"Really?" Abby turned in surprise. "Wow. I thought he'd be more into teaching self-defense."

"How _do_ you know him?" McGee had to ask.

Abby grinned, glad that McGee was focused on his work. She knew he could get jealous, but she thought it funny this time around. She could see where McGee would think he would have serious competition. She replied, "When he first worked with Gibbs. He came from the undercover unit and story goes that he and Gibbs butted heads the entire time and still managed to catch the bad guys."

That did sound weird. McGee pursed his lips as he thought about it. "You mean actually argument and back talk?"

"Oh yeah."

That was a shocker. McGee didn't know anyone brave enough to back talk Gibbs except for Vance. "Gutsy."

"Tell me about it, but Gibbs liked it and had him transferred here." Abby paused to look at McGee. She could tell that he was hanging onto every word. "We met and it was like my brother walking into the room. I mean he treats me like a sister and is like an older brother, but more like a younger version of Gibbs as a brother."

McGee paused as he processed what he was hearing. That sounded weird and disturbing. He started thinking of a younger Gibbs being like a brother to Abby.

"Then it's a good thing I'm not Gibbs."

McGee and Abby turned to see Ray standing there with a bemused expression on his face. McGee thought for certain he was in trouble since Ray did look like he could eat him for breakfast. Abby grinned and managed to restrain herself from giving a repeat performance in the bullpen earlier. She said, "Never said you were though you do have a few things in common."

"I'll take that as a compliment, I think," Ray replied with a grin as he approached the Goth scientist. "And I have Sciuto Bug for you," he added as he held out the evidence bag with the casing in it.

"I was wondering when you were going to bring that in." Abby snatched it out of his hand and moved over to her work table. She put on gloves and made to open and examine it. "I didn't think it would take you this long to ID the gun."

"You know me," Ray replied, "I'm thorough." He looked around the lab noting how not much had changed in terms of the equipment and everything, and he knew Abby liked things arranged a certain way. "Any Sciuto Bug I need to take back to Gibbs?"

"Samples are still running and still trying to get into Rawlings' computer."

McGee realized that Ray wasn't going to chew him up and spit him out. Then again he might be the kind that would wait and see and the wait was the torture. He added a bit nervously, "The encryption is really high end."

Ray peered over McGee's shoulder and nodded in agreement. "Makes you wonder what Leland was doing."

"Don't you know since…" McGee let the question trail off. It had been asked before and it sounded redundant and now interrogative.

"Jo is looking into it," Ray allowed, fudging a bit. Jo had already given him everything and he was sorting through it. "Have you tried all the common algorithms?"

"Abby and I both did," McGee replied.

"Try using this one with that one." Ray pointed at the codes that had been entered. He straightened up and put his hand in his coat pocket. "And I have something for you, Abby." He pulled out the disk he brought. "Newest IP trace software. Newest thing called a ghost protocol. Got you on the list for trial cases."

Abby couldn't help it and squealed in joy. She grabbed Ray around the neck. "I can't believe you did that for me."

"Just something that R&D wants tested. Usual specs to follow."

Abby smiled at Ray as she went to put the disk somewhere safe. She would use it on one of her other cases or a cold case. Ray watched her before turning his attention back to what McGee was doing. He asked, "Did it work?"

"Yeah." McGee typed a few keystrokes and brought up the file listing. "This is everything what Rawlings was working on." He glanced at Ray and asked, "How did you know that combination would work?"

Ray shrugged, "Took a wild guess and I get the feeling that I may have seen it before. Probably from a technician at DigiCom." He frowned and shrugged at that thought, hiding the fact that he really did recognize the code and it had him thinking. He focused on the file directory as McGee scanned them.

McGee thought it an odd response but decided not to poke at it. "Huh, well this is a directory of everything related to current projects at Leland. Mostly things that are being worked on and any one of them could be what got the corporal killed."

Ray knew that, but he knew that there was one criteria that would narrow it down. He looked at the directory, scanning for anything. _What is in there that has Dead Zone written all over it?_ He kept the thought to himself as he peered at the screen. He was well aware that there were going to be questions asked. He would just have to deal with it or make it so that they were too uncomfortable to ask. Finally, he saw something and tapped McGee to stop scrolling. "Wait. Go back," he gestured as McGee started going back but slower.

"You see something?" McGee frowned as he scrolled back, following Ray's direction.

"There," Ray pointed. "That file is the odd one out. Look how it's labeled."

McGee took a look and noted how differently it had been labeled. He clicked on it, muttering, "I've never seen this configuration before. How did you know where to look?"

"Like I said, odd one out," Ray replied, covering. He grinned when McGee managed to open the files. "Nice job, McGee."

McGee didn't say anything, but he felt good. In that short time, he noted some distinct similarities and differences between Ray and Gibbs and what he discovered, he liked. He kept his thoughts to himself as he opened files onto the larger screen to see what they had.

Ray studied the images as they appeared. He heard McGee muttered more to himself than actual conversation and his eye twitched slightly. He felt that familiar pit of dread he would get when things were going to go south to completely FUBAR. It was starting to fall into place and he wasn't liking where it was heading.

"What is that?" McGee was frowning at the screen.

 _This my friend, is something that could change the course of warfare. We'll still need you soldier boys, but this… this is treasure._

Ray could hear the words in his mind as if they were being spoken next to him. He remembered that conversation well. The thing was that it shouldn't exist. It was a pipe-dream, scribbles in a notebook, but there it was staring him in the face. His mouth opened slightly as he pressed his tongue to his teeth. Finally, he answered McGee's question, "The next stage in warfare."

* * *

 **A/N:** Ray is trying to figure out how to do his job and keep Team Gibbs out of trouble and ends up making friends with McGee over an encryption Stay tuned for next time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Gibbs strolled out of the elevator to see Ducky. The ME had called to say that he was posting the autopsy on Lt. Caldwell and Gibbs decided to get his information sooner rather than later. Plus, it would give Ray time to come to terms with what he was going to do next. He entered to find Palmer finishing up what he was doing and Ducky was waiting for him. He asked his usual, "What do ya have for me, Duck?"

Ducky gave a nod and began, "As my preliminary findings indicate, Lt. Caldwell was killed by a single shot to the back. I sent the round up to Abby. The trajectory suggests that the round was fired from…"

"A rooftop?"

Ducky paused and looked at Gibbs. "How did you know that?"

"Ray figured it out. Found the shell casing."

Ducky nodded as it became clear to him why he had observed Ray behaving he did at the crime scene. "Extraordinary," he commented, genuinely amazed. He continued with the major findings, all pointing to the fact that their dead Navy lieutenant was a healthy adult male. But there were some anomalies that even Ducky felt warranted that Gibbs should know. He brushed a few locks of hair to show the agent, "If you look at the roots, this was not this man's natural hair color."

Gibbs took a closer look and noticed the reddish hairs near the roots. "He's a redhead. So he changed his hair color." It didn't seem significant to Gibbs.

"Yes, and he wore color contacts," Ducky replied as he pointed at the kidney dish that held the blue eye colored contacts. He peeled an eye open so Gibbs could see that it was green before moving on to what really had him curious. "And I my examination Jethro, I noticed faint scarring on certain areas of his face."

That piqued Gibbs' interest and he frowned slightly, "What about it?"

Ducky held up a chart and pointed at his notes. "There are surgical scars focusing heavily on the nose and brow region, but they encompass the whole face, suggesting heavy facial reconstruction surgery having been performed."

"Accident?" This was beginning to sound suspicious and Gibbs wondered if Vance and SECNAV's concerns were founded. Certainly Ray thought so and he was almost sweating bullets over a shell casing. He felt that familiar twinge of his gut gnawing at him.

"I checked his medical history and there is no record of Lt. Caldwell having any sort of accident or trauma that would have required facial reconstruction," Ducky countered with a serious expression, "I think this sailor is not who he led everyone to believe."

Gibbs looked at the face of the man on the table. If Ducky was right then the question was who was this man on a slab? If he was posing as someone else, then where is the real Caldwell? The only reason someone would hide their face was to hide from something or someone. It nagged into the territory of spooks and Gibbs wanted to explore all option. He asked, "Is there a way to figure out what he looked like before the operation?"

"I am not sure," Ducky began, "But we can try to figure out who Lt. Caldwell was before he became Lt. Caldwell. I have dental impressions and there are fingerprints. Of course there are the blood samples for DNA comparisons. If your man is in the system under a different name, then we'll see what we get."

Gibbs nodded in silent approval. He and Ducky had a good working relationship to the point where they could always anticipate the next set of questions or tasks ahead of them without the need to verbalize it. They just did it. He started to leave.

"Jethro," Ducky voiced to hold Gibbs back. "There is one more thing." He gestured for Gibbs to take a look.

"I did a fluoroscope and I found this tattoo." He held up the photo that he had taken. "He had it surgically removed but the ink was still there.

Gibbs peered at the image and studied the tattoo. It was unique and no doubt it would lend a hand in identifying their man. He sensed though that was not the reason Ducky held him back and that there was more. "Something on your mind, Duck?"

"Yes." Ducky checked to make sure Palmer wasn't around. It was just personally thoughts that he wanted to voice. "Why is Mr. Salazaar here?"

It was direct even for Ducky, but Gibbs knew that the man was astute enough to pick up on when something wasn't their average day at NCIS. Ray shows up and is assigned to the team as a specialist of sorts if only for this specific case. No one really knew him or remembered him. Even when he was on full status, Ray was the unassuming one, the quiet observer. Yet the man had a way of being there that sent the gut hairs tingling and Ducky was no exception. He looked at the ME and replied, "He's a special agent brought in to help."

"And you and I both know that there is more to it." Ducky looked at Gibbs head on. "You and your team have handled cases similar in the past. What is so special that the director calls in an agent who just arrived and barely patched up from wherever he was last?"

Gibbs figured it was slip of the tongue that Ducky mentioned an injury. The man took doctor-patient confidentiality seriously. Then it occurred to him that it had been a slip on purpose. "We needed help. Director's call." He turned to leave since staying would more than likely get him to spill the beans on his old friend.

"I am well aware of that, Jethro." Ducky followed Gibbs a few paces before the man left the room. Like Gibbs, he didn't like being kept in the dark, but he knew enough about this job that it was done for a reason.

Ducky liked the young man that paid a visit to him earlier, asking for a checkup. He thought him to be someone that was a younger version of Gibbs but he hadn't let the hard things in life get to him. He was unassuming and yet seemed to possess a depth of knowledge that was surprising. Yet Ducky knew that there was more to this than what was being told and it worried him.

Gibbs knew that eventually he was going to have to give explanations, but he didn't have all the details himself. Eventually his friend was going to have to say something. If he had to he would press and it wasn't going to be the nice way. So far, Ray was doing his job even if he was keeping a few details to himself, but it wasn't enough to warrant a talking to. He hoped that Abby would have something for him so that he wouldn't have to press.

He found Tim seated in front of the laptop from Leland and Ray was sitting next to him on Abby's computer. Both were completely absorbed in what they were doing and would occasionally lean over to check each other's work. They were quiet and efficient and didn't even mind that music was blasting in the background; like two peas in a pod. In the meantime, Abby was working on something when she noticed him and said, "I got something for you."

Gibbs glanced at Ray and McGee and left it to them while Abby explained her findings. One thing at a time was needed and it seemed that the pair of them were in the middle of finding out something. Once Abby was finished with what she managed to get from her testing, he turned and addressed McGee, "McGee?"

"We managed to crack the encryption…"

"McGee did," Ray added quietly.

McGee cleared his throat and continued, "We cracked the encryption and this is what Ray found in the file directory." He pulled up the file that they found. "It was made to look like the others, but there were a few things that stood out. I would have missed it. Ray caught it."

Ray cleared his throat and typed a few keys to open the file. "The file itself was also encrypted. Took a little more thinking power there and this is what was in it." He swallowed slightly as he looked at the screen, looking at the material he had seen before.

Gibbs looked at the images that popped up on the screen and then at what was clearly a diagram or blueprint of something. He had no idea what he was looking at since it didn't look like anything he would recognize. "What is it?"

McGee didn't know how to answer that one. The only answer that he had was what Ray had uttered earlier when he looked completely spooked at what they found. His mouth opened slightly and he glanced at Ray who was looking at his screen but not really seeing it. He wanted to say something, but nothing came out. And he knew Gibbs was going to get impatient and start yelling.

Ray knew that he was the only one that could answer it. Reality was setting in. It had been since he first opened the file and started scouring through them. Not looking up, he answered Gibbs' question, "The next stage in warfare."

Gibbs turned to look at his friend. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I mean," Ray replied, finally looking up. "It's state of the art nanotechnology. From the notes that Rawlings had, they are nanites and their function is to seek, infiltrate and destroy."

"A weapon?" Gibbs frowned as he tried to understand.

"Yep." Ray made a slight face before adding, "The idea is that they can be sent and used almost like a plague. Something like what I heard about using bugs to destroy crops or something."

"Like a bug." Gibbs stared head on at Ray, ignoring the fact that McGee had jumped slightly at the mention of what his grandmother Penny had been involved with.

"More or less from my initial outlook," Ray admitted. He typed in a few more key strokes and more windows opened on the larger screen. "I can see why Leland was contracted to develop this. They specialize in biotech, meaning that its tech made to work on things on a biological level. DigiCom was working with them on developing some of the latest developments in prosthetics using robotics and communication signals. We had a successful trial with an amputee veteran." He gave more of sad smile at that.

It sounded really heavy duty stuff. Gibbs typically wasn't patient with technology even if it was something he made the effort to learn. McGee and Abby though were more tech minded and could follow through on the implications. Abby was the one that clarified things for Gibbs, "So this nanotechnology, these nanites, can function within an organism and do whatever it is programmed to do?"

"Judging from this," Ray gestured at the screen, "Best guess is yes. They can be programmed to do anything from infusing vitamins to inducing a heart attack or a brain aneurism. Maybe even induce chemical warfare." He turned to look at his audience.

From that alone, it looked like they could be walking into something that could cause trouble. Gibbs looked at what was on the screen and at Ray and McGee. There had to be more and he asked, "Anything else."

McGee went to work, "Yeah. We found a series of communication, emails and memos between Rawlings and Caldwell. General chatter, but the bulk seem to be centered on work related to this file, DZ-01425. They kept going on about a demo tape and a code."

Ray added tiredly, "It sounds like babble."

"But," McGee held up a finger, not noticing the tired expression on Ray's face. He typed a few keys ad brought up the emails. "They keep talking about a setup; that 'they' shouldn't have died. Mostly it was on Rawlings' end. Caldwell was trying to keep it from blowing up in their faces, like they should report their findings and shut up about it."

Gibbs listened and watched Ray. It occurred to him that this was entering in on that op. They discovered the connection and it involved his old friend. How much was still the answer he wanted to know. "Any idea about the setup?"

"No, but it looked like Rawlings was the one that was into revealing the truth at the beginning and then Caldwell seemed to have a change of heart." McGee frowned as he typed some more on the laptop. "They started planning on gathering evidence and bringing it up with their superiors. In fact, the last email transaction talked about calling someone by the name JJ Rook."

* * *

It was hitting around eight o'clock by the time Gibbs was ready to start shooing out his agents. They were a good team and were troopers when made to stay late into the night or over the weekend on particular cases. This time around, they could be let go since it had been a busy day and there were a few things that still needed time to be sifted through. It was like letting the percolator on the coffee run on a timer. The other part was that he figured Ray could use a break after answering questions as best as he could regarding the files that McGee cracked open. There were plenty of holes and it looked like his old probie didn't know what to do about it even though he knew the man was good at making the decision and executing it.

Ray came to him as an undercover after they met on a case that involved drug and black market smuggling and murder. Gibbs thought him to be an insubordinate Petty Officer. They ended up exchanging a couple of blows until it was revealed that they were both on the same team. They had a laugh about it afterwards and Ray even saved his life. After that, it was a matter of pulling strings and getting the kid on the team.

After what happened, Gibbs inquired and was ready to be a character witness but Ray wouldn't let him. It was that line regarding covert operations and Ray couldn't really tell Gibbs without the threat of consequences. The refusal made Gibbs proud because of what Ray said, but also made him sad, not that he would ever admit that out loud. But, even though they were no longer together as a team, Gibbs always felt that his old probie had an eye on things in one form or another. That much was clear when Vance authorized him, DiNozzo and McGee on the op to rescue Ziva. It had him curious to know, but didn't press.

He found Ray sitting at the desk he had been assigned with nothing but the desk light on, hunched over his laptop, typing away at something. More likely it was his report for the day. It was one thing that Gibbs liked about him since he could do other agent's paperwork and his own without breaking a sweat. He hoped that DiNozzo hadn't discovered that or there would be trouble.

Looking around, Gibbs could see that everyone else had taken off for the night. It had him give a wry grin as he walked quietly up to Ray. "Working kind of late, aren't you?"

"Only until quitting time is sounded," Ray answered, not once looking up. His eyes were fixed to the screen as he kept typing.

"Well it just did. So get out," Gibbs replied in a slight teasing fashion, but also indicating that it was an order that should be obeyed. "And I don't want to hear how you camped out here all night."

Ray rolled his eye slightly and made a slight sound in his throat. Somehow Gibbs _would_ be the one to figure out how he camped out at operations building for the NCIS undercover unit in Los Angeles. The how was probably the right questions without revealing his purpose. He replied, "I still have some work to do. I was given access to the AARs and I'm trying to recall best I can. Thing with Leland has me bugged."

"And you've been sidestepping or avoiding giving more about it especially with your old call sign."

"No rest for the weary, boss." Ray had folded his arms on the desk in front of him and looked up at Gibbs. "It's what I do."

"And you're on my team, meaning my rules," Gibbs countered. "And I'm giving you an order, Skipper. Call it a night."

Ray looked like he was going to defy Gibbs. It really wasn't a big deal. He wanted to find out why his old op was being used and to put it to bed without getting anyone neck deep in the whole thing. Gibbs was right though and he was being given an order. He knew Gibbs wouldn't report him to Vance, but there was no point in agitating an already awkward situation. He may be back in, but he was far from being just an ordinary NCIS agent.

Deciding to play fair, and in all honesty, he still had to pick up Callisto, he replied, "Ten minutes tops and I'm done."

"Five." Gibbs held up his hand to emphasize it before turning and heading towards the elevator. He called back, "Call it a night, Salazaar."

 _That_ held the implied threat and Ray got it loud and clear. He gave a mock salute to Gibbs' retreating form and turned back to finish what he was doing before calling it a night. There was no way he was going to risk having Gibbs chew him out. It was only his first day after all. He finished in record time and was in the elevator when his five minutes were up. If he were honest, he was relieved that Gibbs did pull rank and ordered him to head for home.

His lip had to twitch when his car came in view. He had another preferred mode of transportation but since he had to pick up Callisto, he had the car. It had him grin since he could afford the more affluent looking cars. He was the owner and CEO of DigiCom, but he didn't live like a rich man. He had his own tastes and would have had some of the affluent senators on the hill looking at him like he was craziest person alive.

It was nondescript, but it ran. And he had a preference for jeeps. He could almost imagine people wondering who it belonged to since he noticed everyone else seemed to have a vehicle that was what was considered typical for a federal agent. They hadn't met Sam Hanna. The thought put Ray in a good mood as he wondered how things were back in LA. It was on his mind as he pulled out of the lot, drawing a look from the on duty security guard and had him laugh.

The drive to his friend's place was a nice length to unwind. He knew his friend would have checked out his dog from the kennel. He had called when he realized that he was going to be doing other things. It just turned out more than he expected. But his friend was a good one. They went through BUD/s together and had been assigned to a team together after graduating from SEAL school.

From there, things took a different turn. His friend ended up with a good team and he was tapped to go to JSOC and the famous SEAL Team Six. It was the one that made all the movies and the video games. It actually had people believe it was the only team. Little did they realize that there were multiple teams, half on the east coast and half on the west. The SEALs were developed when it was realized that a new type of warfare was needed in World War II and it started the first basic underwater demolitions teams. The history was fascinating if it was your thing. Ray preferred to have a sense of pride as a SEAL, so he read the history and became the walking encyclopedia for his team.

There were some good times in between the jobs they had to do. And he would occasionally meet up with his friend when their leaves coincided and catch up. No matter what, Ray knew he could count on Parker Flynn for just about anything. They were brothers in arms and were like brothers especially after what happened to his own blood brother. In their line of work, you needed at least one person.

Ray pulled in to where his friend lived on the base apartments. He sighed when he realized how late it was. He really owed Flynn big time and not just for the money for Callisto's board. He prepared for the good natured ribbing that greeted him at the door when Flynn opened the door saying, "Now I know you didn't get rusty on approach, Raymundo."

Ray made a face at his given name. Flynn liked saying it, stressing the faint hints of Irish lilt in his voice. He growled, "Come on, Flynn. You know I don't go by that."

"I know," Flynn replied as he let his friend in. "I just like making ya wince." He stressed his accent more to sound like those actors in the movies.

Ray narrowed his eyes playfully at his friend. Last he heard, he went in full officer's training and now was an LT. He replied, "Yeah and I still outrank you, Lieutenant."

"You have to pull rank?" Flynn mocked whined at that and put a hand over his heart like he was wounded. It didn't last as he gave Ray a hug and welcomed his back. "So, are ya here to stay?"

"More or less. Thanks for taking care of Callisto."

Flynn knew that the change meant that he shouldn't push. He knew about Ray's thing with NCIS. "Hey, she's a doll. And don't worry about the fee."

Ray moaned, "Come on. Take it." He held out the fee to repay his friend. "Don't make me pull rank."

Flynn groused and took it. He pocketed it and stared at his friend. "You wanna crash here?"

"Nah. I better get home. Thanks again, Flynn. I'll call you."

It was how it always was. They didn't always say much in words but their expressions and actions spoke volumes. Flynn nodded and gave a wave as he showed Ray out. He watched with amusement as Callisto jumped into the passenger side of the jeep and shook his head. It was one of the few things that spoke more than the straight-laced persona Ray gave to most people in general.

Ray gave a final wave before pulling out and started heading back home. He rubbed Callisto's head, knowing that she had a good time. He had done his research on local kennels after getting her since he knew that he might have to pack up and travel. She was trained like the trained K9 units so he could take her on the job and she served another function.

Callisto panted happily as the wind rippled through her fur. She was a Belgian Malinois and was graceful and lithe. He made sure she got plenty of exercise and she loved going on runs with him. She was fiercely protective of him and friendly when children would come up and ask if they could pet her. Ray liked her personality. It had him wonder how Gibbs would take it if he brought her to work with him. She was fully trained.

Right now though, he was feeling the exhaustion from air travel to his reinstatement and then going out on a case. A lot had been crammed into the day and he was feeling it. He rotated his shoulder since it was achy, but Ducky had cleaned it and it felt a little better. He did have his post treatment all squared away. At this moment he was ready to just hit the sack, but more likely he would be waylaid by his landlady since she fussed over him like a mother.

He was in luck. She was asleep or watching her favorite television program and too busy to bother with him as he made his way up the stairs. Calisto's nails clicked on the wooden floorboards. Her relaxed manner told Ray that he didn't have to worry about an intruder. He didn't have to since he was way out of the way and very few people knew where he lived. Still, he was cautious.

He let himself and the dog in and sighed as he dropped his keys in the bowl and Callisto raced over to her bed. Flynn made sure she was fed so Ray didn't have to bother with it at the moment. Right now, he was tired and it showed as he dropped his bag beside the couch and draped his blazer on the back.

"You're late."

Ray straightened up and turned to look at his visitor. His lip twitched since Callisto would have known someone was there and decided not to do anything. The little traitor. He looked at his visitor and replied, "Work. And Callisto. Sorry about that Ziv."

Ziva stepped out of the shadows from where she had been waiting. She gave a brief pat to the dog as she walked to stand in front of Ray and stared at him. He stared back with the same intensity he gave everything else even though he was tired. He said softly, "I was called. I came."

"I know."

Ray studied her. Before he knew it, she had his head between her hands as she pulled him in for a kiss. He waited until she broke it off before replying with a slight smirk, "I guess I better make you antsy or upset more often. I like this."

Ziva snorted at that before pulling him in for another kiss. He chuckled as he accepted the kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close.

* * *

 **A/N:** Gibbs and Ducky have a talk and looks like there is more to Ziva's knowledge of Ray. Stay tuned for next time.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The sun shone through the blinds of the of the window in the room giving a gentle spray of light. It hit Ziva gently in the face, causing her to wake up. She moaned slightly as she twisted, trying to hide and go back to sleep. She stretched over and found the place to her left empty. All she grabbed was sheets and she opened an eye.

Sitting up, she kept the sheet pressed to her chest and looked around. The room was fairly clean even though there were clothes strewn across the floor. She couldn't help but give a slight smirk at the sight before sighing. A lot happened yesterday. She didn't expect Ray to walk in and go to work with them. And she had to pretend that she didn't know him.

A noise caught her attention and she turned in the direction it was coming from. It was coming from the kitchen. Part of her training kicked in, but she tempered it since she didn't hear Callisto growling and it didn't feel uncomfortable. Besides, she could smell what was cooking and they didn't have much time to get to the office without raising suspicions.

Pulling on a large shirt, she buttoned it so she was decent. She walked through what passed as a living room and padded to where the kitchen was. She spotted Callisto laying down and looking like she was being neglected and it made her want to laugh. She remembered the 'rules' that had been instilled with the dog.

At the stove was Ray. He didn't turn around, but he did ask, "Sleep well?"

Ziva smiled, "As well as I could. What are you doing?" She came up behind and peered over his shoulder.

Ray smiled as he glanced at her. Her chin was resting on his shoulder and one arm was wrapped around his waist. He had the pants he was going to wear for the day on having taken a shower earlier. He replied with a hum, "I believe breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day. Got do right in terms of health."

Ziva hummed and leaned her cheek on his shoulder. "More like being the gentleman when we first had dinner together."

"When you tried to kill me?"

"You did break into my place." Ziva pulled back and looked at him. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Not try to kill me with your knife." Ray grinned saucily at her.

Ziva could resist punching him in the shoulder. She smirked as she did it and then grabbed him in a hug afterwards. It was one of the few times she found herself thinking she was taking on Abby's habits, but something about the man in front of her made her just do it. And she didn't mind.

Ray chuckled as he turned off the stove and put his attention on plating. He liked teasing her since it was kind of funny. The first time he 'broke' into her apartment, she did threaten to kill him, but he was nonchalant about it. Afterwards, he raided her pantry for an apple and ate it in front of her while laying out the terms of working together. In hindsight, it was probably the most foolish thing he ever did considering he knew what Ziva was capable of, but since Director Shepard brought him on board as her private black ops man, he needed someone to be insider.

It was funny now and things ended up where they are now. He smiled as he turned and handed her a plate and said, "It's not gourmet, but every bot kosher."

Ziva took her plate and looked at the omelet he had made along with the side helping of hummus and pita slices he made. "Hummus?"

"Good for you," Ray replied turning with his own plate in his hands. He dabbed a small piece of pita into his hummus and held it out to her. He waited until she took a bite in pleasure before adding, "See?"

Ziva smirked as she finished the piece and hummed in pleasure at the taste. She walked over to the counter separating the kitchen from the ret of the apartment. She put her plate down and leaned over her plate waiting for Ray to join her. Once he did, they ate in companionable silence, enjoying each other's company.

It didn't take long to eat their meal and Ziva tried to help, but Ray refused. It was an engrained habit, and he was always polite when he had guests over. Ziva felt flattered every time he did that, treated her like a woman and not a fellow agent or that phrase 'one of the boys.' And he was always so nice about it, never making it seem patronizing. True, they had some difficulties at times, the whole thing with Rivkin being a major one. In the end…

Breakfast was a fast affair and Ziva was using the shower while Ray was finishing putting on his choice of shirt. He pulled on a form fitting shirt, giving a smirk since a certain NCIS agent got him hooked into wearing them though he preferred the t-shirts. He was looking at his blazers hanging in his closet when Callisto whined at him. He turned to look at his dog from where she was looking at him. He asked, "What, not liking the look?"

Callisto cocked her head while panting. Ray grinned as he turned to pull the blazer he intended on wearing out and put it on. He did have a couple of nice suits, but he wasn't going to change what had been standard for the last few years. And it was decent enough. It wasn't like he was walking in with board shorts and flip flops. He studied his dog and called in the direction of the bathroom, "You think Gibbs will have a problem with Cal?"

Ziva poked her head around the corner. Her hair was wet and dripping. She looked at the dog and then Ray with a raised brow, "You're not thinking of bringing her?"

"She's a working dog." Ray shrugged like it was nothing. He looked at Ziva before going to pick up his battered satchel bag and checked to make sure that it had everything. He grabbed the lead and the harness for Callisto and put it on. "See you at the Yard."

Ziva pursed her lips and sighed as she watched Ray leave. She realized he only asked just because and sometimes he never was sure of what to say. She didn't blame him really on that. She shook her head before going back into the bathroom to finish drying off. As much as she would have liked to ride with him, it was better that they came in separately.

In the meantime, Ray was smiling as he walked down with Callisto. It was mostly to reassure his landlady since he didn't want to worry her about the things he did. His mind was actually on other business, thinking about the case. He had been able to backburner it when he was with Ziva, giving her his full attention since he always enjoyed being in her company. What was on his mind was business that brought back memories and he felt the burden he had been carrying all these years become heavier.

As he drove to the Navy Yard, he thought about what he had been working on. He had gotten up early and made sure that Callisto was fed. He didn't go for a run like he usually did but instead plunked himself in front of his computer and decided to pursue a lead that he had been toying with ever since a few things became clear. He sat on it because he knew that it was the kind of thing that would get him into trouble.

What he had told Vance and SECNAV was true. He had been threatened with treason if he talked to any of his old teammates. In return, he lied. There was one or two that he could talk to and they wouldn't go blabbing. He could add Flynn to that list, but he was not a member of his old team. In any case, Ray decided to do what he knew would give him some answers to what was going on with their case at Leland. He contacted his old right hand.

Despite him and Simkins being close, Simkins was not his second. There was one other that Ray knew he could trust like he did Flynn. Taking the plunge, he activated a coded chat and typed in, _Old wounds have been opened._

It didn't take long for the reply to come through, _Who is this?_

Ray gave his call sign from his JSOC days and waited for the response. He almost wanted to laugh at the reply. For the most part, he might as well be dead to all that knew him from those days and he did fall off the map so to speak. Mostly. It wasn't the time to laugh and he typed in his apologies and that he needed help.

 _A side castle needing help? That's rich._

Ray thought about it and decided to direct, _DZ may be active again._

The tone changed completely, _Don't be stupid. You got burned and were spared because of you. Nothing survived. NOTHING!_

While it didn't help on the surface, Ray didn't buy it. He knew that bringing up old wounds was going to be a sore spot. Some of his team failed in their careers and others… they pretended that it never happened. The message was adamant in its demands, but that told Ray that there may be something more going on. He was well versed how people would be pretty much stubborn about things like this but only because they were afraid of something else.

He pressed but received the same adamant reply to drop it. That told him that he should definitely keep it up. He didn't want to, but now he knew that he should. And it put him in a bind. In hindsight, it was best that he did. He was starting to reevaluate the possibility that Dead Zone hadn't been a total failure, that there was more to what he had been told when he had been disavowed.

 _Whippoorwill mentioned that there was a new bug and wanted to join in._

That was the last thing that had been sent and it felt like it was a concession. That it was done out of sheer politeness since it had been followed with a repeat statement to stay out of it. There was no proof, but it implied that at least one old team member was in on it. He hated to think so, but Dean Zone furnished a lot of resentment after the deed was done. It only told Ray that he was going to have to be on the lookout and not just for himself but for the team. He had to make sure that his new team wasn't in the sights of those responsible for Rawlings' and Connolly's deaths.

The whole thing made the day to start to look foreboding. It had been on his mind when he got ready for work and decided to make breakfast for him and Ziva. It felt like he was lying to her when he didn't let his thoughts show, but they had been together long enough for her to know that there were things he couldn't tell her and why their relationship was rather aloof at times. It was one of the reasons why it blew up in their faces when Rivkin was in the picture.

They eventually talked about it, but Ray felt like he was still lying. And it was all in the name of protecting that which he cared about. And it stunted any real conversation he wanted to have with her, which made him feel like a cad leaving like he did. He would probably pay for it later and what she did would depend upon her mood. It was something he would have to deal with later. Right now, he had to get to work and try to get along with a team that was still suspicious of him.

He perked up when Callisto barked. He looked around and spotted a place he knew had the thing that would help. He grinned at her and rubbed her head. "Nice call, Cal," he said and made a turn.

* * *

"How did you know?"

Ray shrugged as he handed everyone their cup of coffee. "Took a guess." He tossed the carrier and set the last cup on Gibbs' desk. "Or maybe psychic intuition."

McGee was giving a raised brow as he sipped his coffee. DiNozzo was looking at Ray with slight suspicion and glancing at Ziva, who was appearing calm about everything. She was sipping her coffee with a nonchalant air. DiNozzo cleared his throat and replied, "Maybe McGeek believes in that, but…"

"It's an olive branch, Tony," McGee countered with a slight eye roll.

Ray sat down at his desk and pulled out his laptop to work. He looked down at his dog as she looked at him and then put her head down on her paws. He tapped a few keys and said, "Actually, all I had to do was ask. The barista was helpful."

DiNozzo narrowed his eyes at that and took a sip. He nodded slightly, but said, "You forgot the nutmeg."

Ray glanced up and caught DiNozzo's eyes and replied, "Better luck next time, right?" He knew that it was a concession to working together. Complete trust took a long time and it didn't happen overnight. Right now, he was just trying to at least make a comfortable setting for them to work together.

"Right," DiNozzo replied sitting back down at his desk.

Ray smirked as he tapped a few keys. He looked through the reports that Abby sent up on her analysis. He also was checking on a few things that Jo sent him and thought about his impromptu call to an old friend. He moved his foot up and down in a nervous tick but against Callisto's side. She responded by putting her paw over his foot and rubbing her head against his ankle. It calmed the nervous tick right away.

"What have you got?" Gibbs rounded the corner and picked up the coffee left on his desk.

McGee tapped a few keys and put up the findings on the plasma. "Abby managed to get a print off the casing that killed Caldwell. Points to a Pierce Laurent." He clicked the remote to pull up a booking photo of their suspect. "He has a record of B&E and robberies, mostly small time. He was released just two weeks ago. No known associates."

Ray had looked up at the mention of fingerprints. That meant that the person who it really belonged to was either sloppy, or he used gloves and the casing was from a supplier. More likely it was the latter, and it wasn't uncommon to use people not associated with the military or similar branches. At least it was something. "Looks like he graduated to murder," he muttered.

"Or he handled the ammo," Gibbs pointed out. He looked at McGee, "Got an address?"

"Yeah. Listed under a girlfriend's address." McGee, wrote the address down and moved to hand it to Gibbs.

"Get on it McGee."

"Right away, Boss." McGee tucked the slip of paper in his pocket and opened the drawer to pull out his Sig.

"Take Salazaar with," Gibbs added almost as an afterthought, but it also sounded like he was annoyed that McGee was forgetting something. "Ziva, DiNozzo… follow up on Leland Biotechnics. Secure the demo tape that was mentioned in the emails," he added, referring to the conversation of a demonstration between Rawlings and Caldwell.

Ray stretched a little as he stood up and grabbed his own weapon. Holstering it, he clicked his teeth to signal Callisto and started following McGee. He wasn't even looking when Gibbs tossed him the keys, but caught them deftly.

"The upholstery better not be ruined."

Ray felt his lip curl at that. It was acknowledgement of his dog and told him that Gibbs didn't mind. He called, "McGee. You drive," and tossed the keys.

McGee caught them just as he entered the elevator. He eyed Callisto a bit nervously as she trotted in and sat just to his left while Ray entered and stood to the left of the dog. Ray studied McGee's reaction and looked at Callisto. She was looking straight ahead, on the job. She loved it when she got to work. He said, "She won't bite. Not unless I tell her to."

"Sorry," McGee replied with a slight clearing of his throats. "Dogs… can make me nervous. Took me awhile to get used to mine."

"Odd, but I'll bite," Ray replied with a slightly raised brow. "Why is that?"

McGee long got over when his now dog Jethro bit him during a bust. He had been wary of the animal during the case. Abby wouldn't talk to him. DiNozzo made fun of him. He wasn't sure how the newest agent on the team would respond. He decided to take the plunge and replied, "He attacked me on a bust. He belonged to Marine handler and… I shot him. In the end… he's mine."

"Better than mine. Cal here was actually going to be retired. Her handler had been killed in Afghan. She saw me and that's that." He left out the fact that she bared her teeth at him at first until he barked at her. A little bit of kong time and they became fast friends and he was allowed to be her new handler.

"So she's…"

"MWD. MPC actually. Cal can detect explosions but also wear tactical gear as necessary."

"Aren't those, special forces dogs?"

"Navy SEAL, McGee." Ray gave a grin and walked out when the elevator opened. He clicked his fingers and Callisto followed. He couldn't help but call back, "Don't worry McGee. She's got your six."

The drive was not very entertaining. McGee was behind the wheel, a little nervous when Callisto would poke her head forward and look forward for a moment before setting back. He wanted to take Ray's word for it that she wouldn't hurt him, but he was no fool. He knew that trained K9 units could be vicious if given the order. It also had him curious, especially when Callisto would poke her head forward and place her head on his shoulder. Instantly, McGee felt a bit calmer and he figured that Ray was right about her and was willing to give a little. It would make at least two dogs that he felt comfortable around.

The apartment complex looked like the projects in most major cities and McGee pulled the car up. Ray peered through the window and scrutinized the building and the surrounding area and listened to Callisto as she made a slight sound. She was ready to go. They were very out of place; anyone could tell by looking at them that they were cops. He checked to make sure that his gun was on his belt and got out and opened the back to let Callisto out.

McGee looked around as he got out to check their surroundings as well. He glanced at the dog and he glanced at Ray. He kept in step with the man as they headed towards the entrance of the building. He murmured, "Seems like a good place to hide."

"Or be a freeloader," Ray replied with a slight shrug. "Laurent could be just using her. Either way, he has ties to the shooter." He glanced around before heading towards the stairs with one hand at the ready to draw his weapon if necessary. He muttered, "Cal. Go."

Callisto let out a slight moan and moved forward. McGee and Ray followed her as they made their way up to the apartment they were looking for. Callisto sniffed and sat. That was the cue to draw weapons and Ray pulled his out and tapped her shoulder to pull her back. He nodded at McGee and stacked up.

"NCIS, open up," McGee sounded out as he knocked on the door.

The shot to the door was the response, making Ray and McGee lucky they were stacked up and not in front. It left a nice size hole since it was a shotgun. Callisto growled as Ray kicked in the door. He shouted a command and Callisto shot forward after the suspect as he called out, "Federal agents!"

There was noise and a crashing sound. Callisto barked. McGee and Ray followed the sound. Making sure to clear the rooms they passed through. The girlfriend was huddled in a corner screaming and they saw their suspect heading for the window being chased by Callisto. Ray took the lead and was blindsided by a second suspect and rammed into a nearby wall. He grunted and threw the guy off. "McGee, go! Follow Cal."

McGee obeyed and followed the escaping suspect. Callisto was already out the window. She was barking, so he followed the sound. He came to a staircase that led to the roof and approached with trepidation. He rounded the corner and found Callisto growling, waiting for him. He noted her posture and kneeled beside her. He had no idea what he was doing, but at least she didn't try to bite his arm. "Cal, you see him?"

Callisto made a slight whine mixed in with a growl. At that moment a shot rang out and hit the rail. McGee automatically ducked and moved to return fire. The angle was awkward and he couldn't get a shot off. He patted Callisto, "Come on," and started up the stairs. He paused when the suspect continued to shoot at him and ducked. It felt like a snail's pace going up for him, but for Callisto, she was trotting up.

In the meantime, Ray was struggling with the second suspect. He groaned when he was rammed into a wall, but managed to bring his fists down on the man's back in retaliation. It gave him time to get into a better position and grapple with the man. Using the suspect's momentum, he got him on the ground even taking a few hits in the struggle. Eventually, he got him down and fished out his cuffs and dragged the suspect across the floor of the living room.

"He didn't do anything!"

Ray glared at the girlfriend before wrapping the cuffs around a pipe for the radiator and cuffed the suspect to it. It was better than nothing and he managed to narrowly avoid being hit by a skillet the girlfriend threw at him. He didn't want to fight her, but he couldn't have her running around and getting their suspect free. So he improvised and left her tied to a pillar in the room with zip ties he found and followed McGee's path.

McGee felt the familiar twinge of fear being on the roof, but it wasn't crippling like it used to be. He still didn't like heights, but he could tough it out and get the job done. Besides, he was in pursuit of a suspect and he didn't want to be shown up by a dog of all things. He kept his eye on Callisto since she had the scent. It was just a matter of going where he could fit. He rounded a corner and slid into a duck when a shot rang out.

Callisto was barking and growling. McGee called out, "NCIS, Laurent. Drop the weapon!"

The response was a shot and McGee ducked, taking cover. There was a snarl and a yelp that was clearly human, followed by a cry of pain. McGee took a chance and came out from his cover. Following the sounds, he came across Laurent on the ground. His gun dropped and clamped tightly on his forearm was Callisto. It was enough to make McGee wince since he knew that for her breed, the pounds per square inch were literally bone crushing.

"Getting this crazy mutt off!"

Callisto was growling low in her chest, but she wasn't letting go. She wouldn't let go until her handler gave the command. McGee held his gun ready while reaching for his cuffs. At that moment, Ray emerged with his gun drawn and approaching, asking, "You okay, McGee?"

"Yeah. Callisto got him."

"That's my girl." Ray gave a command and she released Laurent, allowing McGee to cuff him. "I guess I owe her some kong time."

Callisto barked at that while Laurent growled in displeasure. McGee asked, "What about the other guy?"

"Handcuffed to the radiator and girlfriend zip tied to a column post," Ray answered like it was no big deal as he moved to help McGee get Laurent to his feet. "Called it in."

McGee nodded and hauled Laurent to his feet. He wasn't expecting the spray of blood that hit him in the face, nor Ray tackling him to the ground before a second shot echoed, followed by another. He looked to find Laurent trying to breath and the front of his shirt was covered in a big red spot. He looked up to see Ray holding his gun up and looking for the shooter, blood speckled on his face while Callisto was barking.

* * *

 **A/N:** Looks like things are moving forward but their suspect is lost to them before they could even talk to them. Stay tuned for next time.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"So you're telling me that all this was done over technology being developed by Leland?"

Ray looked at the director almost as if her were searching for the answer. Gibbs was standing next to him, listening to every word. "Yes."

"And there are strong ties to the classified op that you've been forbidden to talk about?"

"Yes."

It almost felt like those awkward moments when Ray used to get in trouble as a kid and his father or principal would look at him as if they were surprised that the 'good boy' was capable of getting into trouble. Ray looked at the director and tried hard not to squirm. It was a bit of a mess they were in. They had one suspect dead, another and a woman in holding and someone shot at him and McGee. Yeah that was a mess.

It was an even bigger mess when Gibbs and Ray were summoned to the director's office. It felt very much like being summoned to the principal's office, or, heaven forbid, to his father's study. He was ready to assume the worst such as being thrown under the bus. He wasn't afraid, but he wasn't foolish either.

Vance looked at his agent. It felt like a waiting game and one that this agent knew well, but he seemed also resigned to being chewed out for what they found out. This was probably going to be more than he bargained for. Sighing, he folded his hands and asked, "Do you know who?"

Ray opened his mouth slightly, but then bit the bullet. He replied, "Yes. The shooter was my sniper. Mark Simkins."

"And Laurent?"

"More likely supplier. Maybe a lackey." Ray shrugged, not meaning to be callous, but in all honesty, he didn't know the specific role. He could only speculate at this point.

"It explains why the suspect's prints were all over the casing," Gibbs supplied.

Ray was willing to go with that, but something was telling him that it was a set up. Simkins was trained like he was and it wouldn't be hard to set someone up. And that was considering that Simkins was working for someone with deep pockets. The man always had an eye on doing the work he loved and getting paid with what he was owed. He recalled one instance where the man talked about not re-upping and going into the private sector with PMCs.

Vance considered both of his agents. While he could press, he had read enough about Dead Zone, at least what he was permitted, to know that Ray would give him what he asked if he were ordered to do so. If asked, he would give enough but not enough to warrant suspicion from someone higher up. Privately, Vance thought that there was something off about the way things went down with that op, like there was one big secret that people were desperate to sweep under the rug. He ventured, "And the connection to Leland?"

"Haven't figured that one out yet," Gibbs replied. "Rawlings and Caldwell worked there and were talking about a project."

"Nanite technology," Ray supplied. He cleared his throat a little. He sighed and added, "At most… Simkins was hired to maybe steal information on it. That's the only connection I can see right now."

Vance looked at the agent. He sensed that there was something off about that response. He was going to let it go. He nodded, "Alright Agent Salazaar. That will be all. You're dismissed." He waited until the agent was at the door before adding, "And make sure that nymph of yours is well behaved."

Ray glanced at Vance and saw the slight smirk. He nodded with a slight smile, not sure if he should. It wasn't like they couldn't tell him the dog wasn't allowed. She was a working dog and she did her job. He left the office quietly, leaving Gibbs and Vance in the room.

Once the door clicked, Vance turned towards Gibbs, "What is going on, Gibbs?"

Gibbs shrugged, "You know more than me, Leon." He looked at the director with a look that fell between annoyed and angry. "And you heard what Salazaar said. Our dead servicemen were killed probably for that technology."

"And I read Dr. Mallard's report. That one of them may not be who we thought it was." Vance wasn't angry with his agents. He was trying to figure this out as much as they were. It was just frustrating when your information sources were limited and one of them probably knew more than they did, but he wasn't talking. At least not enough to give the whole picture.

"I know," Gibbs countered in a low tone. "Ducky's working on trying to find out what's underneath."

"And Salazaar?"

"What about him, Leon?"

Vance looked at Gibbs with a pointed look. "Has he said anything apart from what he said in MTAC when he started?"

"Only what he can." Gibbs paused and sauntered towards the director's desk. "Man's been burned before."

"I know that." Vance paused and looked downward at nothing in particular. He folded his hands together and thought about what he was going to say next. "But he was reactivated for a reason and that includes filling us in."

"You think I don't know that? We were lucky to get out the fact that he knew who the shooter was and what he may be after."

"I know. Does he trust us?"

It was an interesting question. Gibbs knew that Ray was the type to follow orders and he questioned them if they were not aligned with the code in which he knew and served by, and he was loyal to the country he served. Gibbs was honest in his assessment, "Probably more than he does others. He was given an order not to talk and the penalty was his life."

"But he has been given permission to tell us." Vance made a slight movement of his hands. "Something happened that is not in the file or…"

"He'll admit if he's scared. And probably for my team." Gibbs paused a moment before frowning as he asked, "Do the AARs say exactly what happened on that op?"

Vance gave a wry chuckled at that and showed Gibbs what he had been handed. "Better than most documents."

Gibbs looked at the file and noted the redaction. It wasn't as bad as some files he had seen, but it still wasn't exactly revealing about everything. Vance was right in that it was better than most. "So the rest depends on what Salazaar tells us."

"The question is, will he tells us?"

Gibbs had started walking towards the door. He paused and replied, "Give him time and maybe the suspect will tell us for him."

Vance smirked at that. He wasn't going to discount that since he was well aware there were a few operations he had sent Delta Alpha Six on that did the same thing. He inherited that agent and it had been a few trial and error moments. He recognized that his agent needed time to work things out. He just hoped that it wouldn't be too late.

Gibbs, in the meantime, made his way to the perfect spot to view his team. He leaned on the railing as he spotted Ziva writing up her report for the day while DiNozzo was ribbing McGee about something. His youngest agent was sitting at his desk working but playing with the dog. He grinned when McGee kicked a red rubber toy away and the dog tracked it and brought it back, earning an ear rub from McGee. It was amusing and surprising since McGee had a wary liking of dogs.

"Cal is like that and she likes McGee."

Gibbs didn't move much except to shift and look at Ray who was leaning on the railing. "Dog's more honest than people."

"It's why I have her," Ray replied, not missing a beat. He grinned slightly before sobering into a sigh. "Its purgatory, Gibbs and I really want to believe that Simkins didn't go merc but… a lot of guys do when they leave the service."

"And?"

"Gibbs, I want to tell you what happened on that op, but I can't."

"Why?"

Ray leaned into his clasped hands. His forehead barely touched the tops of his thumbs. "Because I can't remember it all. All I remember is why we went in and up to extraction when I got hit." He straightened and looked at Gibbs. "Bleeding out and couple of hard knocks. It's spotty at best."

"Is that why you can't tell me?"

"That and the nature of the op. I think I may have already revealed too much when I told you guys what Caldwell and Rawlings were discussing." Ray shifted his feet. "I'm not trying to be an ass about it. More like… Rule 4."

Gibbs nodded at that. "Alright. We'll work with that." He started walking and he threw back, "Still have the guy that shot at McGee and the girl to talk to. You in?"

"Yeah. If I get to watch."

"Better get down there."

"Be right there." Ray watched Gibbs leave. He blinked a bit as he pursed his lips a little. If he were in court, he would be cited for perjury. He wasn't giving the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And then he had to go and use one of Gibbs' rules. He sighed as he turned to look back down at the bullpen.

McGee had thrown the kong he had given him to reward Callisto for a good job. It had landed near DiNozzo and it looked like he was attempting to play with her. Callisto wasn't having it and she was growling. He could tell from her posture that she was just stating she didn't like DiNozzo. It became evident when McGee told DiNozzo to give the kong to him and he caught it and the dog turned and looked at McGee expectantly.

Ray smirked when McGee tossed it to Callisto and she caught it and moved to lay down and start chewing it. He noticed that she was by McGee and shook his head. At least he didn't mind her. It was funny to see the pout on DiNozzo's face. His gaze shifted to Ziva at her desk and noted the smirk she had while she was working. He stared at her for a moment before a call came in and DiNozzo and Ziva were heading down to interrogation.

He hated the fact that he was still keeping secrets. In his line of work, secrets could be deadly. As much as he wanted to tell them about the last op he had done, it would require him to go into detail on things that could prove deadly. And he couldn't do that. Not to the team and not to her. He knew that there had to be more to it and his old sniper was involved. He just didn't want to go down that route, preferring that it be the suggestions he dropped.

 _The spray was like a fine mist. He knew that he was getting slow, but not too slow to react. Laurent was down, but they were still in the open. It was instinct as he pulled McGee down for cover. It was just in time since another shot hit the lip they were taking cover behind._

 _Taking a chance, he looked over the lip with his gun ready. It was silly since it was clear they were being shot at with a sniper's rifle. Protocol though dictated to clear the scene and to do that, you needed to have your weapon. At the risk of getting a bullet to the head, he peeked over. It was then that he saw him. He was looking at him, smirking, like he was mocking him._

 _Always got your back, boss._

Ray took in a breath and looked at the elevator and then at the bullpen. Swallowing, he took a breath and turned to head down the stairs. He was going to get flak for this, but he needed to be sure and if possible, end this before it escalated.

* * *

Gibbs was patient when he needed to be. As a Marine sniper, he had to be patient since there were all sorts of things that could affect how the shot was made and what it would do. Wind, speed, velocity… all those things. So, he was being patient with his old agent and friend throughout this case. He took what he was told with a grain of salt, hoping that his old friend would lose his reservations and tell him what he knew.

He knew that Ray hadn't told him everything and was fibbing on his memory. It was frustrating since libs and half truths led to mistrust and the backbone of being on a team was the trust that the team members had for one another. In this line of work, you needed to trust the man next to you to watch your back and you did the same. It felt like Ray couldn't trust them, but that didn't seem like his character at all. The man believed the same as he did.

Gibbs decided that he was going to put his faith in Ray despite the fact he was certain the man was keeping secrets. Even when they worked together in the past, he sensed there was a secrecy with the man. It was evident when he would disappear for days at a time and it had been cleared previously with the director then. Gibbs had a pretty good idea with what was going on then and he suspected that was what was going on now.

He looked at the file that he had grabbed and thumbed through the basic information that they had managed to get on the remaining suspect named Marshal Baker. The girlfriend to Laurent was Sissy Lyle and she was in holding for the moment. He was thinking of having Ziva interrogate her while he and Ray took on Baker. Or he could let Ray take on Baker solo.

Gibbs remembered when he let Ray interrogate a suspect back in the day. The man had a way of getting a suspect to confess and with all the legalities tied up in a bow. Nice and neat. He was thinking Ray could do the same with this guy. Still, it could be a bad idea since the man did assault his agent along with Laurent. The girlfriend did the same as well. Could be a conflict of interest on some level, but then again what they might need to break the case. He studied the file when a shuffle caught his attention and he looked up.

Ziva and DiNozzo had come up and were heading into the observation room, but there was no sign of Ray. Gibbs frowned at that. He had told his old friend to come down and he seemed willing to be a part of it. He waited until his other agents were in the room before he went in the direction of the elevator, thinking that maybe Ray was lingering near the elevator, but there was no sign of him anywhere. He knew the man wasn't one to chicken out, but disappearing altogether? There had to be a damn good reason for it.

Since there was no time to waste, he headed back to interrogation. He would deal with his disappearing agent later. He opened the door to see Baker sitting like he had been dealt a fatal blow. From the report, the guy would be sore and there were no puncture marks from the teeth. The dog held him just right and given encouragement could probably have crushed the limb with her jaws. It was because of her that his two agents weren't in the hospital getting treated for gunshot wounds.

"Hey, don't I get a doctor or something? That mutt tried to kill me," Baker sputtered angrily.

"That mutt, subdued you and you'll live," Gibbs replied in a nonchalant tone.

"But that's police brutality."

Gibbs made a slight face that almost betrayed the hint to laugh. In his book, brutality was beating the guy to within an inch of his life. Callisto was a trained K9 unit. He opened the file, "Well you did attack two of my agents after they identified themselves."

Baker was ready for a retort, "Didn't hear them say nothing."

Gibbs nodded at that. He had a methodical way of doing interrogations. While this one may not know everything, it was certain that he knew something. "Your buddy Laurent's fingerprints were found on a shell casing of a bullet that killed a naval officer. You know anything about that?"

"Man, I don't know shit," Baker sputtered with a glare since it was clear that he wasn't going to gain any sympathy from anyone. "And I didn't do anything."

Gibbs looked at the man pointedly, "Did you supply the weapons and ammunition?"

"I told you…"

Gibbs pulled out a report. "Got evidence that says you were involved." It was crime scene photos of the apartment. They showed weapons and ammunition and a bunch of other things that looked questionable. "Yours and your partner's prints over everything. Enough to link you to two homicides."

"I didn't shoot nobody."

"Still going down for it." Gibbs leaned forward and stared at Baker. "And it won't be nice since you may be looking at the death penalty."

In the observation room, it was much like any interrogation and having watched dozens of them over the years, it never failed to provide valuable insight and on occasion, entertainment since Gibbs had a way with interrogation. Ziva studied the man and thought him to be pretty much a coward and not much use to them except for the fact that he supplied the means that killed Rawlings and Caldwell. She was upset at the events that transpired.

It hadn't been easy to hear that McGee and Ray had been shot at when they went to pick up the girlfriend. And it had been doubly hard to hear that they had been in a sniper's sights. She probably shouldn't feel that way since she knew Ray had been on dozens of missions over the past few years that put him in a sniper's crosshairs more than once literally and figuratively. Yet, she did. It was the risk she took when she went out to LA to find Ray and talk to him after the team brought her back stateside, and she didn't regret it even though they still had a lot to work out.

Not thinking, she said, "McGee and Salazaar should be here."

DiNozzo had his arms crossed over his chest, observing the interrogation. "McGee is working on that demo tape we brought in and Salazaar… probably spending time with that mutt."

Ziva smirked slightly at DiNozzo's petulant tone at the mention of the dog. Callisto was pretty friendly and she recognized the dog was teasing DiNozzo. If she really didn't like him, she would have reacted a whole lot different. It would take DiNozzo awhile to figure that one out unless Ray told him. She wasn't counting on the latter since Ray had a strange sense of humor at times. She sobered though and replied, "Still, at least Salazaar would be able to get something."

"And how do you know that?"

Ziva didn't break as she turned her gaze to find DiNozzo looking at her suspiciously. She replied, "He looks like he could." She shrugged like it was inconsequential when it really hid the fact that she had seen Ray 'interrogate' and it wasn't a pretty sight. If she didn't know better, she would have thought he worked for Mossad like she did. "And I'm sure he's had his fair share since he was a SEAL," she added to thwart suspicion.

DiNozzo eyed Ziva as she continued to watch the interrogation. He suspected that there was something up since she had acted a little strange since their newest agent arrived. It was like she knew him though it could be just attraction. It certainly was something worth teasing over if he had more tangible evidence about that even though he saw the way Ray looked at her.

DiNozzo turned to focus on the suspect Gibbs was questioning. He frowned slightly, "You know… I'm surprised the… new guy didn't go chasing off after the guy that shot at them." He waited until Ziva was looking at him to add, "I mean he did guess the distance from where Caldwell was shot."

"He's good at math," Ziva offered with a shrug.

"Yeah… genius like McGee." DiNozzo frowned in a knowing fashion. "Not bad for a frogman."

Ziva schooled herself not to react to that. It was common knowledge that Ray was a SEAL. A sort of service record would be in his file. At least what would have been allowed. She knew Ray loved being a SEAL and he respected Marines and could tell how much he disliked the position he was in. He disliked putting people in the position she was in.

When she looked for him after getting back from Somalia, he accepted her apology, but he said that he was going to cut her loose, meaning that he wasn't going to continue what they had started. It hurt, yes, but she saw it for what it was, that he was doing it to protect her from his life and secrets. It was what he was at his core. He was a protector and it seemed that people he worked for and with knew it and exploited it. She knew that and it was why she refused to cut ties. It surprised him, but he didn't fight her on it. She did have to lay it out on him when he held back, but it got them to where they were now as she shrugged, "He mentioned it was his specialty."

"When was that?"

"Yesterday. And he mentioned it to McGee."

DiNozzo eyed Ziva with a raised brow. "Yeah, about that. How is it that he was able to figure out the decryption before McGee?"

Ziva shrugged, "I don't know. They went with obvious and then had to think outside the square."

"Box."

Ziva knew what the phrase was. She was just using it to throw DiNozzo off just a little. "Anyway, that's how you investigate. Look at obvious and then not so obvious. I'm sure there was a lot of back and forth and in a language that only McGee and Ray could understand. What matters is that they found more on why a Navy man and a Marine were killed and they worked for the same company."

DiNozzo knew when to back off and he did in this case. Everything Ziva said was right. Yet, there was something that he couldn't put his finger on and it had ties to their newest agent. It felt familiar, but off and it had him trying to find what he could on Ray Salazaar despite the fact that Vance and Gibbs had vetted him.

He trusted Gibbs. No doubts there, but then again there was always that one that could betray you. DiNozzo wasn't saying that Ray would do that, but that off feeling seemed connected to that. He just wasn't going to be the one to accept it and leave it at that. And it bothered him that Ziva wasn't in the same mindset. He turned to watch Gibbs finish the interrogation. "Well, hopefully, either one of them find something cause it looks like we might have struck out."

* * *

 **A/N:** They still have one suspect but Ray still isn't giving more details and DiNozzo is suspicious about the newest agent. Stay tuned for next time.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

One of the ironclad rules when it came to meeting in secret was to meet in a public place. That usually worked if you were talking to someone that could be particularly violent. It kept a check since to make a scene brought the cops and that was something to avoid, especially if you were doing something clandestine. Dead drops worked too and sometimes doing what the movies did with the secret shadows thing helped.

Ray had been in that game for a long time. Once he was prevented from being with NCIS, it left others to use him however the hell they wanted. JSOC wanted him back and he had done some work for them, which was why he didn't like CIA operatives. Then Director Shepard came in and gave him a way back in, but still doing the same thing. True she had DiNozzo on the frog she was after, but _he_ was the one traveling and all that other stuff in between keeping an eye on Gibbs and his team.

Not much had changed as he bought a cup of coffee and walked to a park bench. He sat on it and looked out like he was enjoying the day. He didn't know if who he was looking for was going to show, but he was willing to bet on it. The past had a way of digging gouges in wounds and left them to fester. He knew that there was some resentment he old team had. On whom, it depended on who you asked.

Staring out, Ray felt his phone buzz and fished it out of his pocket. Glancing at it, he saw that there were a couple of text messages. The first was from Abby telling him that Gibbs was looking for him. The second was from McGee stating the same thing only he said that his six was burning. That was pretty bad, meaning that Gibbs was downright pissed and he was going to get it later.

There was a voicemail and he frowned as he opened it. It was from Ziva and it surprised him. She had his number since he gave it to her, but she never called him on that number unless it was because she needed his help on a job. He swallowed slightly as he listened to it.

 _Where are you? Gibbs is looking for you. Please, call me. Be careful._

"Sounds like good advice."

Ray had been aware that someone had come to sit beside him on the bench. He had a good idea who it was, but he didn't make a move. It was a good way to throw off your quarry and have a little fun. He was aware of his jaw tensing up to the point that his teeth were clenching. This was teetering close to those lines he didn't want to cross. Now it looked like he wasn't going to have a choice. He replied, "I should kill you right now."

"Not very private, is it, Sahib?"

Ray grit his teeth and took a breath to unclench his jaw. He turned to look at the one person he figured would be there. "I know a half dozen ways to do it and not attract attention. One involving a strike to a nerve center."

"Now that is farfetched even for you. But… for someone who was burned, you sure picked up some new means of employment."

"Why did you shoot at me and my partner, Simkins?" Ray looked forward, not meeting Simkins in the eye until he asked his question. He was doing all he could not to lose his temper.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten how overwatch works, Sahib." Simkins looked affronted at the thought. He couldn't help but smirk at the look he was getting from Ray. "I was watching your six."

"Is that what you call it?"

"You've never quibbled about it before. The close calls are what makes the difference on the job getting done." Simkins looked forward at the scenery before them. As far as he was concerned, they were just two people taking a break and enjoying the scenery. "You've just become hard a person to reach nowadays. Sometimes drastic measures have to be taken to even capture your attention."

"I was done," Ray replied calmly as he looked forward. He could easily go for the kill, but he wouldn't risk it in public. If he had to, he would though and he wasn't lying about the manner in which he could do it. "Retired."

"So you say," Simkins replied with a grin. He couldn't help but chuckle in a mocking manner. He lowered his head in a knowing fashion as he added, "But you know as well as I that you aren't done. You're still a dog of the military. Not much different as from before."

Ray didn't say anything about that. It was true that things weren't that much different. The only thing was that they sullied his reputation, disavowed him. He had to work in the shadows. The difference was that the things he knew and done… it could be visited back on him tenfold. He eventually managed to reply, "I am done, Simkins. And I was hired back on."

"Navy cops," Simkins snorted in derision. "You think that's worthwhile?"

"Better than being dark." Ray looked downwards before continuing, "DZ is done, Simkins. It has been for a long time."

Simkins snorted at that. "You always did have to play martyr, Sahib," he said with a hint of anger in his voice. "You stuck your neck out for all of us and this is how they repay you and you still want to work with them?"

Ray looked downward at the ground. He had been asked the question before. He always gave the same one; that it was because he was still loyal to the country he called home. What he didn't say… it was because he knew the truth. He replied, "I am still loyal to the country I call home. I've made my peace, Simkins. Right now I have to haul in the killer of a Marine and a sailor and I believe I am looking at him." He shifted to look at the man, "Why, Simkins?"

"What makes you think I had anything to do with it?"

Ray snorted at that and couldn't resist grinning. It reminded him of old times as he replied, "Please. Your personal touch on the casing. You used it every time, every kill. The distance… Only you would be daring enough to use it though there are others who could make the shot. You take a shot at no joy."

"Very compelling," Simkins replied as he sat back. He smirked as he thumbed his chin. "But if you had any compelling evidence, you would have brought that team of yours including that sweet exotic beauty that called you and bring me in. Instead, you're here talking to me. You forget that I know you're an investigator. An investigator that got saddled with a command."

"It's what they found out in BUD/s."

Simkins chuckled and continued like he wasn't interrupted, "You may have evidence and knowledge of MOs, but direct evidence you sorely lack. For instance, the casing. I'm sure you found a print. Was it mine?"

Ray knew Simkins was mocking him. He also knew that his former sniper was telling him, but not telling him that he was responsible. And it was because he knew that Ray wasn't going to tell his team in his desire to keep them from getting too deep. He looked away and replied, "No."

Simkins laughed, "You used to be better than that, Sahib. You really need to get back in the saddle with a real job."

"I have a real job."

"Of course. Always the one to protect," Simkins growled with a knowing grin and a hint of disdain. "Even when in command you always were the one to look for least number of casualties. We had a job and that was to make the world safer. Admit it. You liked it when we went after the scum that brought down the towers, threatened the troops and the people. The rush… It drove you. Fed you."

Ray sighed almost sadly. Even after all this time Simkins never understood his motivation. Secrets upon secrets. He sighed, "You haven't really learned a thing about me, have you?"

"Oh, I know you, Sahib." Simkins stood up. He paused to see what Ray would do next. When he didn't, he continued, "I remember how intense you were on each op. Then when we got our man, the release. You liked what we did."

Ray wasn't going to argue. He shook his head and leaned forward, "I grew up. I stopped looking for miracles."

"And living the boring life," Simkins countered as he looked down at Ray. He looked at the man and sighed, "Look, we all went through tough times. You especially. And there's plenty of market for a guy of your skills."

"As a PMC? No." Ray shook his head. "I've already got a job." He stood up to be even with Simkins. He stared at the man before adding, "And I will get you for those two murders."

Simkins couldn't help but chuckle at that, "You really are something, Sahib. I actually look forward to seeing what you're gonna do to get your man."

"I usually do," Ray replied. He straightened up, "You disappoint me, Simkins. I always thought you were better than what the jacket said about you." He turned to walk away.

Simkins let him walk a little bit. He wiped his jaw and said, "Yeah, and you should really be careful with your new team. Things could get pretty dicey."

Ray turned to look back at Simkins. He tried not to give away too much reaction. He knew he couldn't bring in his old sniper. He really didn't have anything on him except what he remembered he used to do to his ammo despite what the man just sort of admitted to. Now he was getting something akin to a threat.

Simkins knew that he had Ray. It would be fun to torment the man, play on his default setting. Of course, he could touch a nerve while he was at it. "I mean, the whole thing sounds like a familiar story. Something you wouldn't want that team of yours knowing about. Especially that sweet cheeks." He snorted a laugh for good measure.

Ray grit his teeth. He narrowed his eyes at Simkins. If he gave a warning, it would only egg on the man and the last thing he wanted was to put her in crosshairs that she didn't need to be in. He repeated, "DZ is dead, Simkins."

"So you say." Simkins turned to leave. "I mean how much of it is coincidence?" He paused before starting to walk away, "Well catch ya later."

Ray said nothing but watched as Simkins walked away. He clenched his fist and released it. He really was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He looked down at the ground. He only looked up when he heard Simkins throw back, "Wounds have been left opened to fester… JJ Rook."

* * *

The black car drove into the parking garage. It was clichéd like in the movies, but it served its purpose. It was surprising that privacy could be found in a parking garage despite the fact that it could echo sounds and there were a lot of open spaces. The upside was that it was private property and the owner gave permission. No one would ask questions.

Simkins was waiting with a calm and patient air. Actually, he was quite bored with this whole meeting in secret. Still, he had orders, and he was there, but he wasn't alone. He had his right hand watching his six. The others were at the safe house and awaiting orders. It was just this last bothersome step. He sighed tiredly as he watched the car approach.

The car pulled up and without preamble, the back passenger door opened and a voice called out, "Get in."

Normally, Simkins wouldn't have done it. It was putting himself into a position of vulnerability. It was the reason why he had his man covering his six. There was no way he was going to get into the vehicle unless he had reassurances of a sort. He replied nonchalant, "I don't think so."

"You will get in or your man will suffer painful death. And you."

Simkins looked around. He couldn't see anyone, but that didn't mean that they weren't there. He had no idea if it was true or not, but he wasn't willing to risk it. He looked at the opening in the car and snorted, "Seems like you picked up a few things since we last met."

There was no response, but Simkins got in all the same. He gave one last look before he closed the door and made himself comfortable on the seat. He looked over to his left at the person that had called for a meeting or update and smirked. Patience was something acquired for him and he made it work. For his companion, it looked like it would be anything but that. Then again, it was always tense when you went about dredging up the past. Deciding on breaking the ice, he patted the space next to his left and said, "Nice wheels. The kind of thing that gets you in places on the Hill. The money must be really working out for you."

"Cut the sweet talk, Simkins."

Simkins held his hands up in mock surrender. "Hey, just offering a compliment. Though I suppose you don't need them."

"I need commentary from a disavowed mercenary."

Simkins narrowed his eyed, "Let me remind you that _I_ wasn't disavowed. If anything my record is clean."

"Won't be for long if you don't give me what I came for."

Simkins glared at his contact. It was always like this, but it seemed to have gotten worse the closer it got to the time to do the job. It was same thing when the team was all together. He looked at his contact with a wry look and sighed in a bored tone, "Well, I can tell you that Rook is back on the scene."

"You know I don't give a damn about your codenames."

"Salazaar is in town."

"He's been in town for years. Give me something I don't know."

Simkins glared at his contact. He didn't see the point to this since his contact seemed to know that his old CO was in town and it wouldn't have been a far stretch to figure out that the man was working and probably figuring things out or trying to lay low as he had the past decade or so. He growled, "Then you must know that he's working with NCIS."

The silence was more of a confidence builder for Simkins, but he wasn't showing that, and it really wasn't that for him. He grinned, "They brought him back on after nearly a decade. Imagine that."

"Any idea why that is?"

Simkins shrugged his shoulders, "Might have to do with the fact that Rawlings had Salazaar's old contact information on him." He made a gesture, "My guy saw them collect a card. Recognized it from those days."

"The bastard must have slipped it to Rawlings."

"Doubt it," Simkins replied with a yawn. He stretched like it was nothing. "Salazaar had the law laid down on him when you guys burned him and us. He wouldn't touch anything related to DZ unless it was forced upon him."

"Well it has. Rawlings had his contact information and Leland is working on what DZ covered."

"Was inevitable someone would start up and figure out a few things."

"It doesn't help our case any."

"It's not going to interfere with the job." Simkins tilted his head towards his contact. His eyes rolled slightly at the annoyance that he and his team were thought to be incapable. "And before you get your panties in a twist, I approached him and had a chat. He didn't bite at an implied offer."

"And why would you do that?"

"Because Salazaar is unique. He likes the thrill of the job. He lives for it even if the bastard denies it." Simkins settled into his seat as he adjusted his position. He studied his contact and added, "He's a boy scout yes, but he likes the action and the thrill. He misses it."

"And it would have been more permanent. None of you were supposed to live."

"Yeah well…" Simkins snorted at that. He ran his finger under his nose. "Gotta hand it to the man. He knows how to get out of a sticky situation." He spread his arms. "We're still here."

"And know more than you should. DZ was supposed to be buried."

"Well that went down the drain considering Leland started on their version of DZ."

It was quiet in the car. Simkins blinked slowly as he watched his contact, feeling the car bump along the road. He had heard it before and he had been pissed to find out that they weren't supposed to make it out of there alive. What really happened… that was all Salazaar. Simkins knew his old team leader was one to look for that way out with the least amount of bloodshed. Part and parcel of being the nice guy, but Simkins knew better. He had seen the killer side of Salazaar. He knew what the man could do.

The silence paid off when his contact finally spoke, "Is everything in place?"

Simkins huffed a breath, "Team's on standby."

"Anything on how Leland got it in the first place?"

"Nope. Couldn't get the computer."

A slight sound of annoyance came from the contact. Simkins didn't say anything. If anything, he picked up on being smart and letting things play out. If there was one lesson he learned it was to listen and eventually he would find something useful that would benefit him. The contact looked at him and said, "Make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Hey, we'll get it."

"I mean it, Simkins. You may have this second chance, but you're on a short leash."

The car pulled back up into the parking structure. Simkins looked out the window on his side and slightly rolled his eyes. "Look, you hired me on to do a job and it will get done. What you want with Salazaar… just know that he wants nothing to do with DZ?

"And does he even know that it's related to DZ?"

"Don't insult the man." Simkins glared at his contact. He may not have a liking for the man, but he respected him. The man did risk his life and career to make sure he and the others were able to have a life. "More likely he cracked Rawlings' computer and he knew to come look for me. More likely he has been asking around." At the looked he was getting, he continued, "The man's not just gonna sit around and let the world pass him up."

"So he knows?"

"Everything he does has been to forget DZ and to get others to forget. If anything, he'll give enough to keep them busy, but keep the real secrets to himself."

"So he does know what was the reason."

"You tell me. He was team leader on that op."

Simkins opened the door since they were stopped, and it was the cue for him to get out. He was held back when something tapped his arm. He turned to see a computer pad held out to him. He looked at his contact with a raised brow. He knew that he was only a small part in this wheel and cog operation. He probably wasn't vital, but certainly vital enough to be brought in and they were the team going in. Of course they could be burned if they were caught.

"I know the man, Simkins," the contact said. "My inside man was able to get access to the notes on the digital files at Leland. Still some things are missing. Those bastards Rawlings and Connolly were busy."

Simkins looked at the data on the tablet and gave a slight shrug. "Well, they are the primaries on the research. No surprises there. So, I take it everything is in there to plan and execute?"

"Everything you need."

Simkins nodded and tucked the tablet under his arm as he got out of the car. He turned to look back into the car and leaned his forearm on the frame of the door. "You know… Salazaar's not the vengeful type. You're lucky in that." He stepped back and started to shut the door.

"If he interferes… take care of it."

Simkins stared at his contact. He knew what that meant. His tongue ran along the edge of his teeth as he thought about what to say. He didn't want to appear too eager to do the job, but he knew that he had to give a response otherwise things could go bad for him and his team. He gave a nod and replied, "Okay. And if there are others?"

"Figure it out."

The door was being pulled shut but Simkins prevented it from being closed. He gritted his teeth since the force was felt in his arm, but he managed to keep the door from being closed. "And about us? What are the reassurances?"

There was a reason for that. Simkins wasn't stupid when he took on the job. He wasn't going to let himself or his team get burned if they got caught. He had been firm with the chores that they had been given for this op. He stared down at his contact with the silent demand for an answer.

"Do what you have to do. As far as anyone knows… you don't exist. Take care of Salazaar and you'll be in the clear."

Simkins stepped back when the door was pulled shut. It slammed shut and the car pulled away with a small burst of acceleration. He straightened up and watched as the car disappeared out of the parking garage. He sighed in slight boredom and annoyance at what he had been given. Apparently, this job was highly important, and his old team leader knew more than had been revealed in the AARs and the inquiries after DZ. He continued to stare at the direction the car left and brought his hands together and held the tablet in his hands.

"So, it's a go?"

Simkins fingered the tablet before handing it over to his right-hand man. "Specs on the building and where the target is located."

His guy took the tablet and looked at it and nodded. "Looks good. Jacobs was getting a bit antsy over having nothing to do." He looked up at Simkins and noted the expression. He ventured, "Looks like more is going on than a briefing from our client."

"Yeah."

"Wanna elaborate?"

Simkins stared in the direction the car left. His fingers twitched under the edge of his jacket sleeves. He knew that his right-hand wouldn't spill the beans and he would need some time to think about it. Taking a breath, he replied, "Taking care of a loose end," and walked to where their car was waiting.

* * *

 **A/N:** Ray takes off to have a chat with an old friend and it looks like things are about to go down. Stay tuned for next time.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The elevator door kept opening and closing to reveal a bored looking Ray Salazaar. He leaned against the wall of the elevator as he watched other agents and staff go in and out throughout the time he was sentenced there. He stood there, knowing he could wait it out, and that he was deserving of this. He did skip out and was gone for hours.

After letting Simkins leave, he took his time getting back to the office. He had a lot to think about. Simkins basically told him that he was the one that killed Rawlings and Caldwell but not really coming out and saying he did it. It also told him a few other things. One was the fact that his old team was doing well. His taking the fall did that and from the scant 'conversation' with one of his team members… they were doing okay.

The second thing was the fact that Simkins sought him out and tried to recruit him to his team. Ray could admit to himself that he missed being in charge of a team and doing ops. As much as he didn't like engaging in violence, he truly believed in the work he did. The fact he was doing the same job, but as someone's dirty little secret did sting a little. Still he did it. It did bring him back in contact with Ziva.

The door dinged and opened. He shifted his eyes but not his body when he saw Ziva. She was standing there, holding a file, but he could tell she was looking in his direction. He knew she was worried about what was going on about this whole case. He never wanted his world to collide like this with hers even though she was Mossad and knew a few things.

He shifted slightly, but never changed his countenance. He watched her as she went about whatever it was that she was working on with and managed to observe the other team members. He could see McGee walking through and closely followed by Callisto and he didn't seem to mind. In fact, people were already getting used to her being around. It helped that she was well trained. They were all good. He had seen it, which was why he was willing to endure the lecture he was going to get.

He watched the elevator door close and he was once again alone in the car with his thoughts. There was a ding a short while later and Gibbs walked in. He could see the others trying to take a look and see what would happen next. He turned away form them and focused on Gibbs as the man pushed a button to get the elevator to move to the coroner's level. They didn't get far before he tripped the emergency stop and the lights in the car dimmed to emergency lighting. Ray braced himself for what was going to happen next.

"Did running a company fry your brain?"

"Maybe. Too many projects to keep up with." Ray couldn't help it with the snarkiness. It was second nature to him and often automatic.

Gibbs looked at Ray with a piercing gaze while resisting the urge to give him one of his head slaps. He was angry, probably livid was the word that Ray took off without saying anything to anybody and then went missing for hours, not being in contact. It was a dangerous game, especially considering that he suspected there were secrets his old friend had and refused to acknowledge or talk about. He looked at Ray and said, "You know better than anyone about not being reachable."

"A necessary evil, Gibbs."

"And what was so necessary that you had us all wondering if you were dead or alive. Not to mention Vance entertaining the notion you might have turned."

"You know I wouldn't do that." Ray leaned his back against the wall and gave a slight eye roll as he shifted to glance at Gibbs. He was well aware that his manner was like risking a limb being torn off from the view of Gibbs' team, but he knew the man well enough to know when to push and when not to.

"I know that, but Vance doesn't and neither does SECNAV."

"Oh, you'd be surprised." Ray made a snort at that. He looked at Gibbs to see the man looking at him. It was that bland look that had normal people squirm uncomfortably because they didn't know what to do. He knew that Gibbs was waiting for more and continued, "I wasn't lying about meeting Secretary Jarvis before. It was an assignment… from Director Shepard."

Gibbs blinked at that and shifted to look at him. "She sent you?"

"Before he became SECNAV." Ray shifted on his feet and he thought about how to word things. "I've not just sat on my ass and built a company the last decade or so."

"They used you."

"Don't make it sound like I'm cheap." Ray chuckled a little at that. He looked at the doors of the elevator car, not sure of what to say to that. "The first couple of years… I held out hope. But then it was mission after mission and the caveat that I was expendable and no way they were going to let me back in. So, I started my company to keep busy in between." He shrugged his shoulders. "You could say that they used me."

Gibbs shifted on his feet a little and made a slight face. "And now you work for me. No secrets."

"You know I can't, Gibbs." Ray turned to look at the man that stepped towards him. "Just because I was given permission, there's still a gag order on me. Besides, the secrets I know…" He shook his head sadly. "You could say it was one of the reasons they kept me in this position."

Gibbs nodded at that. He wouldn't go more into that, but he still had to know, "So where were you?"

"Asking questions." Ray looked at Gibbs and added, "I was talking to an old teammate." He looked downward as he said it. His eyes shifted to look at Gibbs as he added, "From Dead Zone."

Gibbs straightened up, "And?"

"All but said that he was the one that killed Rawlings and Caldwell."

"Are you sure?"

Ray paused and swallowed slightly. "After DZ, I took the fall. The team was free to do whatever they wanted. One became a mercenary. He was my sniper. He's the one you want."

Gibbs absorbed the information. "You got a name?"

"I do." Ray nodded, "And I'll give it… To McGee."

Gibbs couldn't help but grin. The man always was one to keep cards close to the vest. It's why he was the one that was undercover. He could convince you he was what the cover was supposed to be. He didn't say anything but turned the elevator back on. "Just don't let things sit. You're on a team now,"

Ray glanced at Gibbs. He knew it was frustrating in that he was telling but not giving away everything. It was frustrating when they worked a case that involved classified information and it was need to know. He had dealt with that himself. In his line of work, the more information you had, the better the success on your op. Lack of information could get someone hurt or killed. He was well aware that he was doing the same thing, but the greater evil was putting them at risk. In the end, would it be enough?"

Gibbs glanced at Ray as the elevator continued to head down to the coroner's level and where Abby's lab was. He knew that Ray knew more than what he was talking about and the gag order was nothing. There was something else and he was reluctant to say anything. It occurred to him that there was a very real danger and his friend seemed to be operating under the premise that by not saying anything, no one else gets hurt. It sounded childish, but Gibbs understood.

The elevator dinged and Gibbs got off. He paused to look at Ray. He turned to walk away and threw back, "Get back to work. Case isn't going to solve itself."

Ray remained in the elevator and watched Gibbs depart as the doors closed. He knew that Gibbs was going to let it go for the time being. The exchange was that he give what he said he was going to give to McGee. And he had no intention of not following through. As much as he couldn't say what he wanted, he could help out the team as best as he could. After all, he wasn't going to let two servicemen's deaths go unanswered.

Pressing the button, he leaned on the back of the elevator car and sighed. He blew air and watched his bangs flitter gently. He could feel the strain of this case press on him. It was forcing him to go down the road that he couldn't talk about, but it looked like he was going to have to. He could hold out a little longer. He had to, if only to keep the team from walking into a sandpit; he would keep her from going in despite the fact she wanted to be there front and center with him. Sighing, he ran his hand over his mouth as he thought about his options his first finger rubbing his upper lip.

The bell dinged indicating he was back on the floor with the bull pen and he stepped out. It was just another day despite the fact that he was still somewhat in the doghouse with Gibbs. He rounded the corner, obviously heading towards McGee's desk but paused to see that the agent wasn't at his desk and Callisto wasn't there either. He wasn't concerned about her since he figured wherever McGee went, she went.

"Looking a little lost there, Salazaar," DiNozzo said as if he were trying not to be so obvious.

Ray felt his lower lip twitch. No doubt DiNozzo and Ziva were curious about what happened. It could play to an advantage though he could foresee a possible painful moment that involved sparring that was not in jest. Still, he would work with it and replied, "Not lost. Just curious. I have something for McGee and he's not here." He turned to look at DiNozzo and Ziva, "Did he take Cal out?"

DiNozzo would have messed with the newest agent simply because it was fun and on Gibbs' team he was the ranking agent. However, he was well aware that there was a different standing with Ray. It was a test to see which boundaries could be pushed. He went for it, "Don't know. If I told you, would you skip out on us again?" He eyed Ray with a pointed look.

Ray chuckled at that, "Guess I deserve that. Hard to get over old habits. Have to get used to working with a team." He studied the two agents. The angle he was at gave him the advantage of being able to look at Ziva with the question in his expression. Bold and risky, but it was better than taking her aside unless she followed him to invite herself to lunch or something. He added as a side note, "And while Cal and I are a team… it's not the same as this."

DiNozzo took the response for what it was, a polite response to ribbing and roundabout questioning. He knew it was going to take a lot to get Ray to slip up and stammer like McGee. And he could admit he liked the guy since he did have to zip tie a suspect's girlfriend and he saw what she looked like. He leaned back in his chair and said, "McGeek is still working on Rawlings' laptop. Went to see Abby about it. The mutt followed."

"Cal isn't a mutt. She was bred and born in one of the most reputable training facilities that train dogs for service."

"Well I think she's gorgeous," Ziva entered with a slight smile. "And the kind of girl I'd like to be friends with."

Ray resisted laughing out loud but managed a smirk. He knew that Ziva and Callisto got along well. Between the two of them, he was covered in terms of having bossy and caring girls in his life. "I'm sure she likes you."

Ziva was smiling like the cat that caught the cream. "She certainly seems to like McGee."

"Well, Cal does what she does. Loyal, steadfast and protective. I could always count on her to find what is needed." Ray adjusted his stance to look casual before giving a slight breath and saying, "Well I better get this down to McGee."

"If you need a background check, we can do it," DiNozzo offered.

Ray studied the senior agent for a moment. He had named McGee because the younger agent was good at background checks and he knew that he could get through a few firewalls too. He also recalled that DiNozzo was a cop once before an NCIS agent; all of that information he got when he started as the director's black ops man. It wouldn't hurt and he was certain that if he ran into trouble, he would find a way as well. Going with a decision, he approached the senior agent and offered the folded slip, "Alright. I have a name though it may not be his real one."

DiNozzo took the slip and opened it. He eyed Ray, "Thinking an alias."

"Maybe."

DiNozzo eyed Ray some more. He could have pressed, but he got the feeling that this case was not going to be the usual by the book. "Alright. I'll take a look." He watched as Ray started towards the elevator, "Where are you going?"

"To see McGee. And collect my dog."

* * *

Abby was busy with evidence from Caldwell and working with the program that Ray had given her. She was trying it out on simple digital files and they were looking good, so she was trying it on a casefile. It was like a digital bloodhound and it had her excited. It could recognize digital signals and track them down faster than anything out there. She had to hand it to the R&D department at Digicom. She liked what they did and in turn felt proud of Ray for what he did.

McGee seemed interested in it too. He came down with the pretense of exercising Callisto and to make it comfortable for DiNozzo since the dog wasn't receptive of him. Abby took it with a grain of salt, but it didn't stop her from getting friendly with the dog. She even wanted to get more friendly with the dog by giving her a hug. McGee was quick to warn her about Callisto and while she was insistent that most animals were friendly, she heard what Callisto did earlier. It made her grateful to the dog.

McGee had come down because he wanted to try something, and he didn't need the interruption. He wanted to try the program Ray brought over to try and weed out what looked like a second file embedded with the notes from Rawlings' laptop. He had been working on it since Gibbs told him to take it easy the rest of the day after they got back. He was fine, and, in his opinion, Ray had it worse since he got beaten up. Still, he would do his job and work on what he found.

It did have him wonder why Ray would pull the stunt he did. McGee figured that it was something dire and it must have felt like he had no choice. Almost like when he got in trouble regarding his sister, Sarah. Gibbs had been angry and didn't have a problem letting Ray stew in the elevator. Ray though looked like he was comfortable in the elevator. It had McGee wonder if he had been through that before and was taking it in a stride. There was a lot to speculate on, but he wasn't going to go there. He had a job to do and it was sitting right in front of him.

He had spotted something unusual about the notes on Rawlings' computer and decided a closer look warranted it. Using the program that Ray brought Abby, he discovered something within the notes; they were hidden files and they were in pieces. He was using the program to track the other pieces. He just had to make sure that the correct parameters were set. He kept checking the notes to the program to make sure he didn't type in anything wrong. His expression was so intense that he didn't hear Abby come up behind him until she teased, "So intense McGee. I like it," and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

McGee gave a slight smile, used to Abby giving him spontaneous hugs. He adored Abby since the first time he met her. They dated for a while and then it stopped. It hurt, but it gave them both time to grow up in their emotions and he liked where they were at now. He would always love Abby. Just what kind of love depended on how time flowed along with where they were in their feelings. He grinned and replied, "Well Rawlings' files had something embedded in them but it's in pieces. The scanned notes file has a piece of it. I think there are more on the other ones."

"And you want to use Raymie's new program to see if you can find them. Brilliant." Abby gave that amused smirk that she gave McGee when he struck on something particularly brilliant. "You have a go at that while I try to find out who Caldwell really is."

McGee shifted to watch as Abby went to work processing their DB's prints. He didn't point out the military database getting a hit since they already knew that. With Ducky's findings about Caldwell possibly being someone else, Abby was up to the challenge of discovering that and hopefully find out what was going on at Leland that it involved their newest agent who had been elusive in the investigation but also helpful. He shifted to focus on his task and hopeful make something out of the theory he had.

It had been quiet for nearly an hour, so it seemed. They were doing their jobs and McGee was getting amused at the fact that Abby was ready to strangle her computer, if it were possible, to make it spit out an ID that was different from the one that they already had. It was quiet enough to hear the door to the lab open even though it was done quietly.

Abby was the first to speak, "Gibbs, I don't have anything just yet…" She turned to address Gibbs but instead came face to face with Ray who was smiling in bemusement at being called by the boss man's name. "Oh…" She stammered and paused, not sure of what to say.

Ray watched Abby with bemusement and his lip twitched from wanting to laugh. He had mercy on Abby and replied, "Well, I'm not Gibbs, but I will take whatever Scuito Bug you have for me." He smiled to make his request more beseeching and cute.

Abby smiled at his old reference for when she had anything new. McGee didn't quite get it and asked, "Scuito Bug?"

"It's like scuttle butt," Ray explained, "Except the updates on evidence comes from Abby." He gave a slight gesture in Abby's direction. "Hence Scuito Bug."

McGee thought about it and nodded. It made sense, but he got the silent warning from Abby that he wasn't allowed to use it. Instead he directed attention back to Ray and asked, "So… in any trouble?"

It wasn't subtle and McGee didn't have any other way of asking. It just felt better to come out in front and ask. Ray saw that and replied, "I've been in worse trouble. I got off easy."

"So… why'd you leave and not check in?"

"Force of habit." Ray gave a slight sigh like he was bored, but he wasn't. "I used to work alone for a long time. Just getting used to it and I had a lead and wanted to grab it before it went cold. Which reminds me…" He fished into his blazer pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper. "What I was checking on panned out. I have a name of our sniper."

McGee accepted the proffered slip of paper and eyed it with a raised brow. Normally on Gibbs' team, if you found a lead, you ran with it. You didn't hand off to anyone unless you were not able to and that usually meant some form of trouble. McGee sensed that as he looked at the name and then raised his brow at Ray. "You want me to run with this?"

"I'm good. You're better."

It was probably the lamest attempt at flattery, but Ray didn't want to waste time on explanations. The less the team knew about what he knew, the better. For now at least. He just hoped that McGee wasn't the type to ask too many questions unless they were pertinent and that he trusted him enough to take it at face value.

McGee wasn't fooled by the flattering comment. Yes he was good with the computer. It was his niche so to speak and a valuable tool to the Gibbs' team. It was something about the request that had him wondering more about the guy standing in front of him. He didn't think about whether or not he was dangerous. He was since he had the skill set to be that way. It was how he used it. McGee realized he could take this further and ask questions. Whether or not he'd get an honest answer was something else and it was something he didn't want to test it too much.

"I could, but I'm working on something else." McGee gestured at what he had been working on.

Ray looked at the screen and recognized his company's program. "I see that. Then it's no problem." He turned towards Abby and asked, "You got a spare computer lying around?"

The reaction was puzzling to McGee. There was a reason that Ray wanted him to look up that name. It occurred to him that Ray was trying to gain rapport by giving them information. It was unnecessary from his point of view, but considering how DiNozzo gave him the stink eye a few times… He pointed at Abby's desk where her other computer was.

Ray gave a nod and glanced at Abby and got her approval. He sat in the roller chair and slid into place and started typing. He didn't even flinch when Callisto walked over and planted herself between him and the door, her eyes focused on the door. Her ears were up and eyes forward despite the fact that she was lying down.

McGee and Abby watched the dog. She wasn't even distracted when they made noise. The only explanation they got was from Ray when he said, "She's a trained MWD and very protective of me. She knows when I start working on a computer, I zone out. Extra set of eyes." He looked at them from the corner of his eye and grinned.

It was enough to put everyone in a good mood and get back to work. For the next few hours it was quiet with the clacking of keyboard keys. It wasn't until Abby started powering down her babies for the night that McGee made a break through and that was after Gibbs came down to check on them, telling them to finish and leave it for the morning.

McGee had managed to piece together and come up with something and he revealed is discovery when he uttered, "Huh."

"Anything good, McGee?" Abby leaned over to see what he was looking at.

"It looks like Caldwell was sending pieces of information to Rawlings after an initial conversation regarding a test of some sort." McGee tapped a few keys and the files he had pasted themselves together. "Looks like a test of the nanites and results." He tapped a few more keys.

Abby studied the screen, "Huh. Looks like a lot of trader secrets or something." She frowned, "Is this why they were killed?"

"Proprietary tech, Abby," Ray called from his workstation.

McGee didn't say anything but managed to hum in agreement. He was still typing and working with file fragments. He spotted something else and pieced it together. "Looks like I've got part of another file. It looks like a set of blueprints, but I'm not sure what it is."

McGee and Abby were busy looking at the screen that they didn't realize that Ray had gotten up and taken a position behind them. He walked right by them and they didn't notice. They didn't even notice Callisto had gotten to her feet and moved to stand beside him. McGee was trying to put more together to get a better picture.

Ray watched as McGee worked and fingered the slip of paper in his hand. It was the name he had tried to give to McGee, but he ran with it. The findings were on Abby's computer. Right now he was focused on what McGee was pulling up. He had heard the word 'blueprints' and moved to see. That feeling that had always warning him of impending danger was starting to rear its head.

"There's a name here, but it's not…" McGee continued working to clear up the image. He frowned when he saw the name on the blueprints. It wasn't exactly a name but an alpha numeric designation. It was nothing he was familiar with. "DZ-8472?"

The sound of the elevator dinging caught their attention. McGee was the first to realize that Ray wasn't there. He called out, "Ray?"

Ray had left Abby's lab the moment he recognized what McGee had been piecing together. He didn't want to think it was so but Simkins' words from earlier had come to mind. He thought about them as he waited for the elevator to head back up to the bullpen where Gibbs was more than likely burning the midnight oil and DiNozzo and Ziva would be up there as well. It had him hesitate.

As much as he had been told to play as a team player, this was going to require him going solo. He changed his mind and walked away from the elevator and headed towards the stairs with Callisto in tow. He did pull out his phone and dialed a number and held it up to his ear. He waited until it was picked up and said, "We've got a problem."

* * *

 **A/N:** Ray is in the dog house and it looks like it will continue to be that way now he saw what McGee found. Find out what happens next time on Operation Dead Zone...


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

 _The mission was simple. Infiltrate. Extract the kidnapped scientists. Exfil. All pretty standard, except they were breaking into a lab and it was heavily guarded._

" _Easy pickings."_

 _Simkins had called it when he set up overwatch. The rest of the team was taking up position. Ray peered through the darkness at the facility. He could see the guards and knew Simkins spotted them. He gave the call, "Take em out."_

 _Infiltration past the perimeter was the easy part. It was when they got inside that it turned out to be… complicated._

" _Stop. What are you doing?!"_

Ray chewed his lower lip as he made adjustments to stay on the road. He sighed as remembered the cause of all this. It eluded him how Caldwell and Rawlings' knew about it, but that wasn't his concern now. Right now, he had to stop history from repeating itself. And maybe it would be some redemption for the lies he told.

He called his old contact who told him to leave it alone. He had to let someone know that was familiar with the op. He didn't know what to expect and he wasn't about to call Jo to rally the spec op team that he created with a side business as a PMC. Simkins was right in that he missed the ops he and his team had been sent on. It was painful and yet rewarding to have a team sent out on loan to the US government. The funny part was that they had no idea it was _his_ team and company.

Perhaps it was shady in having someone else being in charge, but he wasn't taking chances considering that he knew the backgrounds of a couple of members of that team. That was why he wasn't going to call Jo to scramble them. Nope. This had to be done by him, and if Gibbs were there, he'd say the team was going in.

" _We were waiting for you to. We were told you volunteered for this phase."_

Ray clicked his tongue on his teeth. It drew a whine from Callisto who was sitting in the passenger seat. He glanced over and gave a slight smile before reaching over and rubbing her ear. He pulled on it gently as he took the turnoff that would get him to Leland. "It's okay, Cal. Just trying to make things right and keep friends out of trouble," he said.

 _We were sent to recover you._

Ray frowned as he pulled up observing the building. He saw the security gate and frowned. There was something off about it and drove up like he was there on business. It was hardly the case and he doubted anyone working at Leland would drive a jeep like his. He did have some excuse and he had his NCIS badge just in case. And he had a reason for Callisto being there.

Pulling up to the security booth, he frowned as he peered and saw no one there. Immediately he was suspicious and pulled up more. His breath hissed out when he saw the guard lying on the ground. The pool of blood told him the guard was dead. He turned his gaze towards the building. Everything about it was forcing him to remember that mission. Making a slight face and sighing, got out and opened the gate to drive in.

It was a feeling of déjà vu as Ray surveyed the building from the place he parked his jeep. It was the only place that gave him a good view though he was certain that whoever was doing this knew he was there. He peered through the binoculars that he kept in the crate in his jeep. If anyone saw what he had in his jeep, they'd think he was crazy, but being a SEAL, the last decade and just his nature of being prepared gave him the habit. Besides, he had stuff to be prepared if he got a flat. It was just an extension of it and he included stuff for Callisto.

Everything looked like normal and that was what worried Ray. He couldn't really see anything. A dead guard would have been good cause, but still… Sighing, he knew that he was going to have to go in. tucking the binoculars under his arm, he went to the back of his jeep and opened up the crate he kept hidden behind the other. He whistled to Callisto, "Come on, girl. Time for work."

Callisto loved to work and trotted forward eagerly. She put her front paws on the bumper to let him put the vest he had for her on. It was a basic Kevlar vest for her. The other cool stuff all belonged to the military or law enforcement. When he was done fastening it, he patted her and she got down and waited while he checked his gun and the clips he carried. He made sure everything was shut, but paused for a moment.

 _Could always count on you, Rook. You and computers._

Making a slight face, Ray reached over and opened another compartment. He pulled out a beaten and old bag and wrapped the strap around his body. It looked worse than the bag he carried his laptop in, but there were methods to his madness. Checking to make sure everything was secure, he pulled his gun and checked it. He wasn't willing to switch the safety off, but he did and his finger was in the trigger well. He took a breath and started forward, giving a click with his tongue, "Come on, Cal. Let's go."

Callisto let out a rumble and went with him. She trotted ahead of him sniffing out the way, making sure that there was no one on guard. The lack of guards had him worried and kept him on alert. He kept an eye on Callisto and on his surroundings. It definitely brought back memories and he wasn't liking where it was taking him.

He made it to the side entrance that seemed like what security and lab assistants used. He checked to make sure that there was no one around before he checked the door. He almost wanted to laugh when he saw the lock. "Double electronic key card," he muttered, "Child's play."

He gave a command and Callisto turned to watch his six while he opened the bag he brought with him and pulled out something that his assistant Jo once called an obsolete piece of junk. He may like messing with tech but he had an appreciation for the old school. He also wasn't about to let go of skills he learned growing up and he was through the door easy.

He huddled near the door and looked around. He patted Callisto to signal her to go to work. He held his gun at the ready while he followed her. He became more cautious when Callisto found a booby trap explosive near one of the doors to the main stairwell. He managed to disable it and continue onward and up the stairs. It was the best route since an elevator could be a death trap.

He made it a main lab and moved towards one of the computers to access the servers. He had to find out which lab they were going to hit. He was uneasy since he knew how meticulous Simkins was especially if he was calling the shots. At least in the sense when he used to be overwatch for the team. He swallowed slightly as he tapped a few keys. He didn't notice that Callisto had wandered off, caught on a trail of something and he broke form then.

He didn't catch the guy coming up from behind until he felt the barrel of a gun press on his temple. He rolled his eyes and closed them as he stopped tapping the keys. He stared at the console since it was a moment of truth and the guy could blow out his brains right then and there.

"So you did decide to show up after all. He knew you couldn't resist."

Ray didn't blink but continued to stare at the console. His hands were gripping the edges as he felt himself being padded down and his gun confiscated. He then said, "Had to check it out. Wanted to see if it was as he said."

His captor pulled him away from the console while holding the gun on him. "He said it was more along the lines of adrenaline. From the looks of it… he was right."

Ray felt his lip twitch at the suggestion. He would be lying to himself if he said he didn't miss his team and the work they did. Being solo was lonely work. His mouth opened slightly before he replied, "Nah, more like trying to see how pathetic he is for bringing up the past." He looked at his captor and a grin.

It garnered the reaction that he expected. His captor grinned back before launching a very hard elbow into his stomach. It had him double over and grunt from the pain. He couldn't help but say, "Not bad for an amateur."

The punch to the face followed up and Ray looked downward and spit when he felt the sanguine taste in his mouth. He was also given a rough shove, followed by, "You wanted to see. Get going."

Ray stumbled, not at all concerned that Callisto hadn't come to tear this guy apart. It meant that there was some hope of things going in the right direction. He just prayed that it wouldn't be too high a price. So he let himself be shoved and have a gun dug into his back as he was taken to see what he figured out and was desperate to believe wasn't happening.

Ray maintained his cool as he was led into a lab on the third floor and noted the route. It did occur to him that Simkins may have let him see purposely. He had to keep his options open. He walked in to see Simkins standing there with someone that Ray hadn't expected to see. He didn't lose his cool but focused on Simkins. He looked at the man that had been his sniper and said, "So you did decide to do it. Getting revenge?"

"No. Just making things right. And this was already planned," Simkins countered. He looked at Ray who was staring with a bland expression. "And I knew you'd be in. Can't stay away."

Ray chewed his lower lip before replying, "You're right. Couldn't stay away. I miss the job. Now I'm in a state of limbo and can't do a damn thing."

Simkins smirked and nodded. He even dared to chuckle as he left where his man was working to step towards Ray. He stood in front of the man and studied him before saying, "You know… I just might believe that."

Ray took the punch to the gut and across the face. He couldn't keep from grunting from the pain, but he took it better than most people would. He took a couple of deep breaths as Simkins' men held him up.

"Seems you forgot the plan, Sahib."

Ray felt winded when the next punch came under the ribs. He would have collapsed if the two men holding him weren't. He took a couple of breaths, trying to catch his breath. He looked up at Simkins with a narrowed look. It then turned into a chuckle and he replied, "Actually, I haven't, Simkins."

Simkins narrowed his eyes but still wore a smirk, "Oh you do, do you?"

Ray straightened up and chuckled, "Yeah, I do." He sniffed a little more to focus and get his mind off the fact that he had been sucker punched. He gestured over at the one on the terminal, "Since that guy doesn't know jack shit about what he's trying to open. And you're right. I do miss it."

Simkins stared at Ray. "Told you, Sahib. It's like a drug for you. Can't get enough of it."

Ray didn't flinch but watched Simkins. He didn't move so as not to give any reason for Simkins' men to shoot him. He swallowed slightly and added, "Which is why I am here. Do the job and do it right."

Simkins raised his brow and would have said something but noise caught their attention. They turned to see two more of Simkins' men dragging in someone. When they dropped the body in front of them, Ray could only raise his brow.

"Oh. Seems we have a visitor." Simkins then turned to look at Ray with a look of contempt, "Of course, you just lied to me about wanting it."

Ray took a look at the body on the ground trying to breath. It looked like they gave him a pretty good beating. He had to think fast and snorted, "Please. Like I would tell them anything."

"Says the bastard ordered to work with them."

"Doesn't prove anything." Ray crossed his arm over his chest with contempt clear on his face. "Only that they think that they can get information out of me."

"Because you're so good at giving that. Had to give away our position to the Israeli and tell the brass everything and we all got screwed."

"You weren't the one that was burned," Ray countered. He leaned forward and pointed at himself. "I was! I took the fall for all of you. Clean service records and to keep it that way I say nothing. You think I'm going to risk prison or death?" He narrowed his eyes at Simkins as he finished, "Now are you gonna let me fucking work?"

Simkins eyed Ray and the blazing look that he had. There was no faking rage and anger at an injustice and he had seen the man do it before. He waited though before relenting, "Alright, Sahib. You can figure out how to crack the vault… might be help for you yet."

Ray snorted in contempt before stepping forward. He eyed the man on the ground and saw the surprised look on his face. He looked at him. Stepping to the terminal while still looking at him, he sneered, "You really think that I would help NCIS, Agent McGee?"

* * *

McGee blinked in surprise as he watched Ray step to the console and started tapping the flat screen. He had been startled when Ray looked at him with such contempt. He didn't think that the man would come to Leland to help the people that were trying to steal whatever it was they were stealing. He couldn't believe that. Then again did they really know him?

Gibbs trusted him. Trusted him enough not to really give him the third degree when he disappeared. DiNozzo had his suspicions but followed Gibbs' lead and Ziva…? Ziva seemed ambivalent about the whole thing. Unusual for her, but McGee figured that she was watching and waiting. Then Abby…

"Are you seriously trying to pull the same thing you did last time, Sahib?"

"Last time I had the benefit of the actually password key card," Ray replied while he focused on the screen. "You know how _terrible_ I am with revolving security systems."

"Did pretty well at DZ."

"Better."

McGee watched the back and forth. He had been hauled to his feet and held with a gun trained on him. He could make a break for it, but he wasn't one to risk odds since his chances of survival were not good. Focusing on Ray, McGee swallowed slightly and pressed, "Ray… why are you helping them? You wouldn't do something like this."

"Oh, he would," Simkins came up beside McGee. He hummed a chuckle as he wrapped his arm around McGee's shoulders and hugged him almost into a head lock. He gestured towards Ray as he worked on the terminal, "You see, Sahib there is an honorable sort. Really believes in the back of the man next to you thing. Also because he knows that if he doesn't cooperate… I put a bullet through your thick nerdy skull."

"And once again you've got it all wrong," Ray said as he typed in another code. "As much as I am for making sure there is minimal body count, I don't really care about agencies in general. They lie worse than an average person. I trust Mossad over any of our agencies."

McGee blinked at the callousness Ray gave in his response. He wasn't sure if he should be disappointed or what. It was like a complete one-eighty from the man that walked into NCIS that morning. He sputtered, "That sounds… weird."

It was the best that he could do at the moment. McGee was well aware that he sounded silly and it was evident at the laughs that he was getting. He swallowed as he focused on Ray who seemed to be ignoring everyone and concentrating on the panel in front of him. He felt his face go red as Simkins taunted him, "Is that what NCIS teaches its agents to say?"

McGee pursed his lips as he turned to look at Simkins. He was well aware that anything he said was up for mockery. It didn't matter as long as he said something from the heart. Finally, he countered with, "Plenty."

"Not impressive so far," Simkins mocked. He found it amusing that this agent was not even giving it his best in terms of a retort, or trash talk, or anything. "Maybe they are like those paper pushers on the hill. Right Rook?"

McGee looked over at Ray. The man seemed to be determined to ignore what was going on. Or he was listening and simply not bothering to entertain them. He was considering the latter since he was sure that Ray wouldn't blatantly help them out. And he knew that hacking into a system took time. It wasn't as easy as it was made to look.

"I wouldn't doubt NCIS. I mean Agent MacGregor is pretty tough. About as good as me, maybe better. Tommy and Lisa are like polar opposites but cover what is missed. As for Agent Tibbs…"

McGee blinked and at first thought that Ray may have been confusing fiction and reality. It dawned on him that the man did know the _Deep Six_ series pretty well despite the careless way he had thrown out a business deal. It also had him look at the situation more closely.

"Tibbs is a man that's like a dog with a bone. He never gives up especially when one of his team is in trouble. In fact, you can count on him to plan something that you'd least expect." Ray paused in his work to look up and stare at Simkins with a nonchalant look, more like he was bored and didn't care about the discussion but would say something if only two cents worth.

McGee watched as Simkins seemed to take it in good humor. Even Ray was giving a slight smile. What McGee didn't expect was for Simkins to walk up and sucker punch Ray in the gut. He blinked wide eyed as Ray took the hit, but it was obvious that it was a painful one. He thought he heard the crack of ribs with that and tried to make a move but found a gun in his face and someone gripping his arm.

Simkins patted Ray's back in a patronizing matter while saying, "You were funny then. Now can you be serious and not talk about some stupid characters in a book?"

McGee winced as he watched Ray take deep breaths. Well, he tried to. The man was coughing a little, trying to catch his breath. He gave a small protest when Simkins pulled his gun and held it up to Ray's temple while in a sort of headlock. He was saying, "Now, are you going to do what you said you were going to do and not be a complete ass?"

Ray had put a hand on the console to steady himself. McGee watched as he lifted himself slightly to look at Simkins with a glare. The tension seemed to grow thick in the room. McGee couldn't help but blurt, "Ray… don't. Don't do it."

McGee didn't care if he got punched or hit upside the head from this. He felt compelled to support the newest agent. And he wasn't entertaining the notion that he would betray them. That was just not a possibility. He felt the barrel of a gun poke him in his middle hard enough to be felt and make the warning be know. He wasn't giving up on it though. "Don't do it."

Simkins turned and pointed the gun at McGee in an almost lazy manner. "Do you want to end up with a permanent status change?"

McGee stared at Simkins. It wasn't the first time he had a gun pointed at him and it wasn't going to be the last. He stared back, not backing down. It was probably dumb, but it was something Gibbs would do and McGee felt that he couldn't back down. He was an NCIS agent and he was going to act like it. He continued to stare while swallowing slightly.

"I wasn't kidding. They are real agents."

McGee blinked as Simkins shifted to look at Ray who was hunched over the console, but looking at everyone like they were idiots. Simkins looked at the hunched over man and demanded, "You're saying a bunch of fictional characters are real? Have you really stooped that low? Risking your baby-faced agent in your need for humor?"

McGee didn't say anything. He sensed that this was a moment between Ray and Simkins and that something was going to happen. He just didn't know what. He would have gladly retorted at being called a baby face and if DiNozzo were there… It was something he wouldn't be able to live down.

Ray looked at Simkins and replied, "Now you know fiction is based in reality, Simkins. They are real. I just won't tell you their real names."

Simkins stared at Ray as he straightened up and continued, "Now, I almost have what you want. Give me five minutes, you'll have what you want. But I have a request."

Simkins smirked since there was no way he was going to honor it, but he would humor the man, "Name it and I'll consider."

"Let the baby there go," Ray gestured at McGee. "He's harmless and I'm guessing alone since I haven't seen any sign of anyone else."

McGee took it as an opportunity to say, "It's true. I've been tailing Salazaar since he left our building. Knew I couldn't trust him."

"And yet you tried to convince him not to help." Simkins turned to look at McGee, amused at the turn of events. The whole thing was amusing as he glanced back at Ray before nodding, "Alright. Five minutes and this little baby face can leave."

McGee didn't know if it was a godsend or what. He watched as Ray went back to work ignoring any pain from the suck punch he had just received. McGee didn't know if anyone from the office would have come by now or they were biding time until he thought he saw something. He didn't want to give himself away and continued to watch Ray with a look of concentration.

After five minutes, there was a click. Ray was leaning heavily on the counter and looking at Simkins with a glare, "There. It's open."

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it Sahib?"

The vault door was opening and a bit slow for anyone's liking. You couldn't blame anyone there since they didn't design the damn thing. McGee thought Simkins was going to lose his patience, but he didn't. Ray just stood there, looking somber and defeated. McGee realized that he hadn't wanted to do that. He was being put into a position to do that and using words to cover for what he actually felt. He wanted to smirk when Ray replied, "Like pulling teeth. You fucking asshole."

"Don't fuck with me now, Sahib," Simkins warned as he shoved Ray in the direction of McGee.

McGee let Ray bump into him and managed to sidestep. Ray narrowed his eyes at Simkins while one of his men went into the vault. McGee looked downward for a moment and noticed that Ray had palmed something. Whatever it was, McGee didn't know and it looked like it might be used and sometime soon. He just had to be ready for it.

"Got it."

McGee looked over and saw one of SImkins' men holding up a case. He looked at Ray who was looking almost nonplussed at the situation and then at Simkins. He was not liking what he was seeing.

"Move out," Simkins ordered while his gaze didn't leave Ray or McGee. He lifted his gun and pointed it at them. "I know I said I would let him go and I could let you go, Sahib, but what would be the fun in that? Better I just kill you both. Maybe you'll be a hero, unless they print the console and oops, you aided and abetted."

McGee knew that there was some truth to that. The backlash would be horrible on Ray since he did give them access to the vault. He blinked and looked at Ray when the man replied, "This was coercion."

"Arguing semantics? Really?"

Ray shrugged like it wasn't important. McGee wondered if the man was crazy. That opinion increased when Ray said, "Just making a point. _Talab_."

It came from the right as a blur of fur charged at Simkins' outstretched arm and chomped on it. The weight forced it downward as his finger pulled the trigger. The last thing McGee heard was a shot and someone shouting.

* * *

 **A/N:** Ray tries to break in and stop Simkins but runs into trouble. What the hell is McGee doing there? Stay tuned for next time on Operation Dead Zone...


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Ray knew that he was risking a lot by pretending he didn't care about NCIS or even McGee. He hadn't failed to notice the look of panic and surprise on the man's face. He was surprised that there were no overt looks of betrayal. Disbelief? Maybe. At any rate, it was a risk to even suggest that he wouldn't do it if Simkins didn't promise to let McGee go. He didn't like the odds at all.

It certainly didn't help when Simkins sucker punched him in the right spot to probably crack a rib. The angle certainly was correct. He just couldn't worry about it at the moment. And they were in the middle of a firefight that could go either way.

It had been too good to be true that Simkins would keep his word. Ray knew that he and McGee were the liability. Even if he managed to convey that he was willing to join the other side, Simkins wouldn't believe it. Ray had a loyalty to his country and a sense of justice that frustrated people who wanted to play fast and loose with it. He was just lucky that the moment of reprieve was coming.

He hadn't failed to notice his girl slip into the lab and get into position. So when he gave the command to seek, Callisto was on it. She lunged forward and used her powerful jaws on Simkins' arm. She latched onto it and used her weight to bring her down and Simkins. A shot rang out, but luckily it missed hitting anyone.

"NCIS!"

Ray made a lunge to where Simkins had fallen and punched him across the face, disarmed him and got his gun back. He signaled Callisto to release. Simkins wasn't moving anytime soon since Ray could pack a punch as necessary. He pulled Simkins' gun and tossed it at McGee, "McGee! Here!"

There wasn't much time for reprieve since Simkins' men reacted and were firing upon them. There was return fire as Gibbs, DiNozzo and Ziva pushed their way in. Ray dove for cover near the vault, but the case was moving. He was looking for the one that had it. The firefight was a good distraction, and no one was paying attention to Ray as he managed to track the case.

Staying low, he crept with Callisto through the lab. Once he was within range, he hissed, "Talab, girl. Go."

Callisto took off, following their quarry. She put a spring into her limbs and tackled the guy, sending the case flying. Ray didn't see where it ended up since he was tackled from the side. He collided with a nearby lab table and landed hard on the ground amidst shattered glass. A weight pressed on him and tried to restrain him.

"Should've stayed out of it, Rook."

Ray looked up, grunting at a face he hadn't seen in years. He narrowed his eyes and grunted, "And I trusted you."

"Still can, Rook."

There was an explosion of glass that caused Ray's captor to flinch but he didn't relinquish his grip. Ray struggled but it was not possible and he couldn't call Callisto. He didn't even know where she was. He could hear her growling and grunts of pain along with intermittent gunfire. His focus though was on the face above his.

"Use what the Company gave you. Put the pieces together for us."

"Like I'd do that for them."

"You will because if you don't…"

More gunfire occurred and it was enough to cause a distraction. Ray struggled and managed to get a hand free. He laid a punch to the face above him and managed to push the body off him. Ray rolled over to get to his feet and could feel the sting of the glass. He looked around for a weapon while taking a couple of breaths.

"It's bigger than this Rook. Just watch your back."

Ray would have retorted but Simkins was on his feet and firing. One of his shots hit something and sparks flew, catching fire. Ray squinted as he tried to see where everything was. He found where his weapon had fallen and looked up to see where the players were. He could see Gibbs, DiNozzo and Ziva taking cover in their positions, but there was no sign of McGee. Searching, he saw the case with the nanites. There was still a chance to salvage this.

Taking cover, he fired a couple of shots to draw fire. Once he got it moving, he moved towards the case. He stayed low and managed to slide in the last few feet. The move carried him into the vault. Good cover, but the bad thing was that there was no way out. No exit. The fire was still going, and the emergency sprinklers weren't going on. Looking down, he had an idea.

Simkins in the meantime had managed to get to his feet. He was angry that Ray punched his lights out and set his mutt on him. He saw that his men were engaged in a firefight and it occurred to him that his ex-team leader had a plan set up from the very beginning. Judging from the way things were going though, it looked like it was half baked. That could play to his advantage as he looked for the case with the nanites. That and he had one more thing up his sleeve.

Simkins spotted Ray in the vault with the case. He decided to have a little fun and stalk him like a predator. Staying low, he moved to put Ray into his sights, so he had a clear shot. He could have made it from where he was since he was a sniper and had a rep for shooting from just about any angle. This time though, it was personal. He was pissed at the fact that Ray had taken his gun, but they weren't unprepared.

Simkins managed to find another gun that had clattered. Probably from the mutt taking down one of his boys. He checked, and it still had ammo. The other reason he had to get closer was because it wasn't his sniper rifle. Didn't matter though. He wanted to get up close and personal.

He hid behind a lab counter and checked on his target. Ray was leaning over the open case. He appeared oblivious to what was going on around him. Perfect target. He raised his weapon and took aim. He knew just where to hit him. His finger wrapped around the trigger and he started to squeeze the trigger.

"Ray!"

Simkins squeezed the trigger just as Ray shifted when his name was called. He was an open target and Simkins was confident it would hit. What he didn't expect was someone to step in the bullet's path. He did note the wide eyed look Ray had when he realized what happened. He growled in frustration and took cover since gunfire was being directed his way.

Ray had heard his name just as he finished what he was doing. It was probably the riskiest thing he ever did, but if something happened, they needed some form of leverage. When he looked up, he saw McGee running at him. It was a brief moment of puzzlement until he realized he heard a shot being fired and he spotted Simkins.

It was like time started to stand still as Ray fully turned to see McGee get hit and take a fall. He felt his eyes widened as he was struck with a memory. It was a memory from a long time ago and one that he tried to forget…

 _LT look out!_

Ray heard the second shot and grunted when he felt the burning heat on his arm. He stepped back and fell to the ground from stumbling on his feet, his hand clenched on his shoulder. He could feel the familiar stickiness of blood seeping through his fingers and he turned to look to see his fingers covered in his blood and lifted his hand to look at the wound. He winced as he moved his sleeve to take a peek.

"Do you really want to keep up this fight, Sahib?"

Ray panted and winced from his wound and turned to look at McGee. The agent was on the ground but there was no blood pooling on the ground. There was a sear in his arm but nothing that would resembling a GSW bleeding out. He stared at McGee until the agent seemed to gasp for air and wake up. It was luck that he looked around until he spotted Ray and the man managed to signal to stay down before calling out, "You know I can't let you have them."

"Then why not a trade?"

There was the unmistakable click of a gun being trained. Ray realized that the gunfire had stopped. He slowly got to his feet and peered over the counter. He could make out Gibbs and DiNozzo pointing their weapons at Simkins' men. McGee was down on the ground and not moving. That left Ziva. He looked around and found…

Simkins had his gun trained on her. She was weaponless, and her hands were raised in surrender. There was one other he could make out that had his gun on her. Whether or not it was because they knew she was Mossad was up for debate. He doubted they even knew she was Israeli, but they were not taking chances because she was a woman. They were just confident because body mass and all that, she was considerably smaller. Ray just knew that she could make a guy regret thinking the wrong thing about her.

This time though, it was different. It brought to mind that whole, bringing a gun to a knife fight thing. Ray shifted to lean back against the wall where he was positioned and winced while trying to take a calming breath. Not looking, he called out, "You know I can't do that, Simkins."

"Now you grow a spine, Sahib? Or did you forget that you were the one that hacked into the system and opened the vault? You're just as guilty."

"Don't do it, Skipper," Gibbs' voice rang out.

Ray looked downward at his lap and opened up the hand that he had clenched in a fist to stare at what he figured would be a good plan. Then again, Simkins was right. He was implicated no matter what.

"I don't have time or patience, Sahib. Give us the package and we'll let your girl go."

"She's not a girl," Ray retorted more to be a pain in the rear.

"Sahib."

There was a click. It was the telltale sound of a gun being cocked. Ray heard murmuring and sharp words, but they weren't distinctive. It was tempting for him to react and say that he would do it. He was not willing to put Ziva in that kind of danger and made him well aware of the dangers of actually caring about someone. It was one of his greatest faults, but it was different when it came to the team.

There was a slight scuffle and a gun going off. Ray whipped around to take a peek just as Ziva called out, "McGee!"

There were grunts and Ziva growling. That meant she was pissed. Ray felt his breath hitch slightly as he opened his hand once more and looked around. He caught McGee on the ground and Gibbs and DiNozzo were straining at the bit to help Ziva who was caught in the crosshairs. He gritted his teeth and silently jumped when he felt a wet nose touch his cheek. He made a slight face when Callisto gave him a gentle lick.

"I am running out of patience, Sahib. Give me the package or I will shoot her."

"Skipper."

Ray grimaced as he looked upwards. He was hearing protests from Gibbs, DiNozzo, Ziva and Simkins' men. He winced as he remembered that op and what was going on. Nothing like this but he had been faced with a decision. One that ended up changing how his life went to this point. He looked at his hand and the blood that had trickled down his arm and what was in his hand and then at Callisto. He had a choice and he just prayed that it would not send them all to hell.

* * *

Simkins was not a man of patience. This was nothing like the man he had followed under previously and it annoyed him exceedingly. Then again, the man debated his choices like crazy especially if it conflicted with his morality; another major annoyance when they just needed to get things done.

"He's not going to do it."

Simkins shifted his gaze to look at the woman he was holding as hostage. She was covered so if she tried something, one of his men would take care of it and it was the reason her friends didn't try anything. It gave him the luxury of having a small conversation. He tugged on her arm and asked, "And what makes you so sure, Sweet Cheeks?"

Ziva resisted the urge to knee the man in the balls. She really hated that pet name ever since she went undercover with DiNozzo and pretending to be an assassin. It had Ray laugh at her reasoning and he only used it when he was trying to make a point. Now… She gritted her teeth since she was angry. McGee was shot, and she was in the line of fire on both sides and Ray… he was being put into a position that would damn him no matter what.

Glancing at the man that was grabbing her, she resisted and replied, "He always has contingency."

"Oh is that what it is?" Simkins was amused by this. He glanced over and saw the other two that were holding their guns. He asked them, "So do you really trust Sahib not to give it to me?"

Gibbs had a few choice words to say. Some of them were to be directed at his old friend, but that was after they got out of this mess they were in at the moment. McGee had been the one to figure things out and called him. He just didn't expect his agent to go in alone.

It worked out to a point since now McGee was down. Not dead, but more than likely not in a position to do anything. He and DiNozzo were in a standoff with this guy who was using Ziva as a hostage. Ray… he shook his head. He hadn't failed to notice that Ray had made his way to the vault with whatever it was and now the only thing that was standing in the way of Ziva getting free. He pursed his lips as he thought about what to do and glanced over to where his friend was holed up.

Motion caught Gibbs' attention and he glanced to see McGee moving and it looked like he was going for one of the gunmen. It was Ziva that spotted him first and shouted the moment McGee went for one of the gunmen. A shot was fired, and he saw his agent fall back onto the ground and out of sight. He didn't know if he was dead or alive.

"I am running out of patience, Sahib. Give me the package or I will shoot her."

Gibbs looked up to see DiNozzo holding his position and their target was trained on Ziva, holding onto her and one other guy trained on her. Two others were pointing guns at him and DiNozzo. It was a standoff and there was only one person holding the keys. He called out, "Skipper!" His gaze never wavered from the gunmen he and DiNozzo were holding off.

Simkins looked at the vault while his gun was close enough to blow a nice sized hole in Ziva's head. He peered in the direction of the vault and leaned in close. He whispered in her ear, "He's going to give in. As far as he knows… no matter what he does… his life is over. It has been since the day he took the blame."

Ziva swallowed slightly as she controlled her temper. She looked ahead and around for an advantage as she replied, "For something he didn't do. And he would never let this go."

"We'll see," Simkins smirked. Looking at the vault, he called out, "Time's up Sahib. Count of three. One." He clicked his gun and locked and loaded. "Two…"

"Simkins!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the vault as Ray emerged with his hands raised. One of them holding onto the case, his hands streaked with blood. Ziva stood there watching him, wanting to curse at him and to stop what he was doing. She felt Simkins' grip tighten on her as he said, "So you made a choice, Shahib."

Ray stepped forward but leaving plenty of space between him and Simkins. He held it up, "I did." He gestured the case forward. "Here."

Ziva was not one to believe that Ray would betray his people, his country. The years she knew him, she knew him to be deliberate about everything. Spontaneity was not really in his vocabulary even though he was a spec ops operator and he had to account for sudden changes in a planned op. He also had a strong sense of loyalty. So, she was disinclined to believe that he had a change of heart in his principles. She looked at the man and stared at him straight in the eye.

When they first started working together, it took her awhile to learn that he revealed a lot of what he was thinking through his eyes. At first, she thought that he was like some Mossad operatives she knew, all about the mission and no ounce of caring, unless it was to make a person angry. She knew because he did that with her multiple times when he would break into her apartment and raid her fridge. Looking at him now, she could see the determination in his eyes and something else.

Simkins wasn't paying attention to that and looked at Ray with a grin, "Finally some sense in you Sahib. Put it there." He gestured to the lab table that separated them. "Come on."

Ray placed the case on the counter and slid it towards Simkins. There was no expression on his face when Ziva was urged to go forward and to pick up the case and hand it over. He didn't flinch when Ziva hesitated but stared at Simkins.

Ziva toyed with the idea of refusal, but she was not in a good position to do so. She passed it over to one of Simkins' men and stood there with an equally bland expression. She surveyed the scene as Simkins' man backed away while subtly shifting. She noted that Ray wasn't moving but staring at Simkins like he was going to launch himself across the lab table and tackle the man. He didn't though.

"Thanks Sahib. This has been fun and maybe, just maybe, you'll figure out the next step," Simkins started retreating, gesturing in a mocking manner at Ray. He paused to give a mocking look and a bang went off.

Ziva didn't see what happened since she had been shoved out of the way and towards Gibbs and DiNozzo. She landed hard on the ground amidst the shattering of glass. She twisted just in time to see DiNozzo slide her a gun which she grabbed. She was on her feet and looking for a target but was distracted by the shattering of glass. She did manage to catch sight of Simkins heading towards the hall with one of his men and not far on his tail was Ray.

Ray had felt the searing pain on his side as the bullet passed through him. It was enough to be an annoyance, but he was astute enough to know that he should get it treated and it could lead to complications if he wasn't careful. Right now, that wasn't the case. Right now, he was focused on catching Simkins and maybe this wouldn't have to go any farther.

Ignoring the pain, he moved forward after grabbing the weapon he had hidden in his bag. How it ended up close to him when he made his choice, call it luck of the draw or something like it. He pulled his spare gun and clip and pushed to get to the man he once called friend as he was trying to make his exit. He took advantage of the fact that there were beakers and other glass apparel that could be used, and he made use of it.

Simkins' men were covering the exit but there was something off about it and it had Ray on alert. He narrowed his eyes as he moved forward. It became odd when Simkins paused out in the open and turned to look at him. Ray paused with his weapon at the ready but not completely raised. He called out, "Simkins, this is over."

Simkins looked at his old team leader and grinned, "No, I don't think so Sahib. Considering you made the choice and now you are damned one way or another." He gestured at the case that one of his men was holding.

Ray studied the scene with a narrow gaze. He said, "Simkins, give the case back."

Simkins chuckled, "Sorry, Sahib. You had your chance." He gestured for his man with the case to leave. He looked at Ray and added, "You know… you really weren't supposed to live beyond you unlocking the door. But I'm just too fond of you." Simkins smirked like he was simpering in an attempt to be mocking of the situation.

Ray narrowed his eyes at Simkins. "You don't like me that much," he smirked back, hiding the wince that threatened from his injuries.

Simkins grinned, "You're right on that mark. Tell me something, Sahib. Is she really worth all that much to you?" He made a slight gesture ad looked at Ray with a knowing grin.

That was when Ray noticed it. The telltale blinking red light told him exactly what it was. He had no choice. He had to let Simkins go this time.

Simkins was grinning at him as he started walking away. He gave a taunting wave as he said, "You might to keep your friends close, if they could be called that, close. You never know what might happen. Figure out the next step."

Ray gritted his teeth but changed tactics. He heard the sound. He called out as he watched Simkins and his men walk away, "Everyone, get off this floor! Cal, go!"

It was a mad scramble to find somewhere to take cover or get out. Ray tried heading in the direction that he had been coming in when he tried to sneak in. He was vaguely aware that the others were trying to get out, but with the fire and the smoke, visibility was near zero. It was a wonder they didn't suffocate from smoke inhalation. His problem was the fact that the wound in his side was starting to get to him and slowing him down.

He was almost out when he tripped on something. He fell, and his knees hit hard and collapsed on his side, grunting from the impact. He heard grunting that wasn't his. Rolling over, he saw that it was McGee and he looked like he was having a little trouble breathing. The round to the chest may have done more damage than what they could see.

Not one to leave a man behind, Ray got to his feet and reached to grab the agent, muttering, "I gotcha McGee. We gotta go. Come on."

It was awkward, and Ray felt his side burn from stretched and grabbing the fallen agent. He was not giving into it as he hauled McGee to his feet and wrapped his arm around his upper body. McGee was trying to straighten himself up so he was helping rather than hindering but the smoke was so thick, he was coughing hard.

Ray turned towards the exit he was going towards. The fire was spreading but it wasn't blocking the exit. However, there were the rigged explosives and one was too close for comfort. They had to get into the stairwell to have some sort of chance. He grunted and felt his body buckle from the pain shooting up his side.

"I'm okay, Ray," McGee said as he straightened up and started moving on his own. He stumbled with a bout of coughing.

Ray chuckled weakly as he adjusted his grip on McGee and replied, "Come on, McGee. Even McGregor was able to get through something like this. Scuito Bug is going to have a field day if she finds out."

McGee made a slight sound and pulled a face at that. It made them chuckle a bit and amble on, trying to get to the exit. They were almost to the door to the stairwell when they heard it. The beep that meant…

Ray turned slightly and saw the light. He went with instinct and pushed McGee through the door. There was a loud thump. He probably was a little too hard on the pushing, but he had only a little amount of time to get them both in a position to be out of the full force of the blast. He was barely entering he door when his body went through the door, feeling a white hot pain in his back. The world went black as he heard the shattering of the windows of the floor blowing out.

 _Figure out the next steps, Sahib. Then maybe you might get some justice…_

* * *

 **A/N:** And that is a wrap for the first part. Stay tuned for part two...


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